


No Particular Way

by MasieGrey



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bisexual Female Character, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Jealousy, Past Sexual Abuse Mention, Recreational Drug Use, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Weed, alcohol mention/abuse/dependency, but i promise they have fun too its not all sad, cursing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:09:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22951558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasieGrey/pseuds/MasieGrey
Summary: "Shane had entered the Saloon after his closing shift at the Joja Mart, the same as every Monday night. He took his usual seat in the corner. He chatted with Emily while she washed and dried glasses behind the bar. She brought him a plate of pepper poppers and a beer. It was shaping up to be a standard night, just the way he liked it.At least it would have, if /she/ hadn’t walked in. "Darcy moves to Pelican Town in order to repair her late grandfather's ranch and make a name for herself, to prove she can exceed her family's chronically low expectations. But making it on her own is a lot harder than she expects and she begins to slip back into her old self-destructive habits. Luckily she finds someone with a few self-destructive habits of his own. Pelican Town has more to offer than she ever could have expected, but how long can a good thing last before she ruins it for herself?
Relationships: Leah/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Shane/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 57





	1. So, It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've written in a while, and my first piece for Stardew. It's also my first time writing smut so be patient with me, please.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Move in day has a sexier end than Darcy had planned on. 
> 
> Warning for alcohol, sexual situations, mention of past sexual abuse/abusive relationships, mild depictions of self-harm

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

“We’ve got a pool going for how long it’ll take you to give up and come home. I bet Thomas a hundred gold you’d be back within the week,” Michael gloated from the front seat of the pickup.

Darcy pulled her last bag out of the bed of the truck and glared at him in the side mirror. They were parked behind the broken down bus, and had spent the last hour moving her belongings into their grandfather’s old farmhouse. Several bags of clothes, a few potted fairy roses and some trinkets later, she was almost done. 

“Just wait. I’m gonna have this place back in shape in a year.”

“Yeah, right. Or you’ll be back tomorrow, groveling and begging for Pa to have you married off.” 

Darcy slammed the tailgate closed. She bristled at the mention of the recent point of contention between her and her father. “Go crash your car, you fucking hick,” she hissed.

“Lie down in the road first, you dowdy bitch,” her brother spat back. 

They glared at each other for a few tense seconds before the corner of Michael’s mouth twitched and their angry facade dissolved into laughter. “I’ll miss you, Darce,” he said with a grin. 

Darcy leaned halfway through the truck’s open window to hug her brother. “I’ll miss you too, asshole.” 

She stepped back and waved as he drove off. She shouldered her bag and headed away from the bus stop.

Sunlight filtered through sheer white curtains and lit the small house with a soft grey light. She lifted one of her small pots of fairy roses and placed it in the window sill, disrupting the thick layer of dust that had settled there from three years of disuse. 

“Ew,” She whispered to herself as a particularly large dust bunny floated past her nose on it's way down to the floor. She looked around at the small house. Her grandfather had lived a simple life. After her grandmother died, he downsized the house, combining it into a studio of sorts. Now the bed was in the living room and there was no real kitchen.

She wandered over to the far side of the room where dozens of framed photographs were hung on the wall without order. Some— like her grandparents’ wedding photo— were black and white while others— like her father’s high school graduation photo— were sepia-toned. The most recent photograph was one Darcy recognized because a copy of it was hanging up in her family home in Clementsville. It was over two decades old and the colors were beginning to fade to pink with age.

Her four brothers were standing in the bed of the truck. All of them had the same dusty brown curls and smattering of freckles that matched their mother's. Her parents were standing in front of the pickup. Her father was stoic as usual, his mouth in a thin line that betrayed no emotion. Her mother was beaming, one arm laced around her husband. She carried a little girl on her hip. Darcy was hiding behind her father’s legs. If she hadn’t known she was in the picture, she would’ve missed herself. 

There was a knock at the door and Darcy spun around in surprise. “Hello? Mister Barrett?” Someone called. 

She opened the door and was met by an old man with a grey handlebar mustache and an old-fashioned newsboy cap standing next to a red-headed woman with a large sack slung over her shoulder. 

“Oh, hello,” the old man said, his voice suggesting he was surprised to see her. “My name is Lewis. I’m the mayor of Pelican Town. I was told that one of Marshall Barrett’s grandchildren was going to be moving in today. Are you his wife?” 

Darcy just stared at him for a moment before letting out an exasperated sigh. _So, it begins_ , she thought. “I’m Marshall Barrett’s granddaughter, Darcy Barrett. I’m here to rebuild the ranch.” She held out her hand, and she and the mayor shared a cordial handshake.

“That’s wonderful news! Gary didn’t mention which of his kids was coming. We assumed that it would be one of his sons. I didn’t realize he had a daughter.” 

“Yeah,” Darcy said flatly, thinking about her father. “That happens a lot.”

“My name is Robin,” the redheaded woman spoke up. She let the burlap sack slide off of her shoulder and onto the porch. “These are some tools I had laying around. I hope you’ll be able to use them.” She smiled sweetly.

It dawned on Darcy that she didn’t own any tools.

“Thank you so much!” she replied, realizing this woman had just saved her a lot of potential embarrassment. She felt a little overwhelmed. She had moved to the old ranch to fix it up and prove that she was more than the family disappointment, but she hadn’t even realized that she had no idea where to begin. She wished the two strangers would leave so that she could have time to think.

“There are also some parsnip seeds in there. Hopefully you can supplement your income with some fresh crops while you’re fixing up the ranch,” the mayor suggested. 

“I’m a carpenter by trade, so if you need any help or guidance on how to fix this place up,” Robin gestured to the farmhouse, “just let me know. I’d be happy to help. I live up by the mountain with my husband and two kids.” 

“This is all wonderful! Thank you so much, both of you,” Darcy tried to convey how grateful she was, while also making it clear she wanted to be alone. 

“Also, be sure to say hello to the rest of the townsfolk. Everyone will be excited to meet you. Word has traveled fast about one of Marshall’s grandchildren moving in,” Lewis mentioned. “Everyone in town was a big fan of your grandfather, so I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to meet you.”

“I’ll be sure to make a point to say hello to everyone,” Darcy assured him.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries that Darcy partially zoned out for. She was just waiting for them to go. They eventually made their way off of the porch and back towards town.

Darcy shut the door and took another look around her new house. She felt sentimental for the cramped space, despite never spending any time there as a child. She assumed that it was just the feeling people get when they finally have a place of their own. 

Her stomach growled, cutting into her thoughts. She remembered with a groan that she hadn’t eaten since her and Michael had left Clementsville that morning. She looked around at her lack of kitchen and her empty cupboards. _I guess I better make grocery shopping my first order of business._

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

“Welcome to Pierre’s,” the man behind the counter said, glancing up briefly before going back to counting the money in the register drawer with a frown.

Darcy looked around the modest shop and started pulling grocery staples off of the shelves.

She grabbed a hand basket from a stack by the door and filled it with rice, bread, peanut butter, and some microwave meals before carrying the load up to the counter.

She just wanted to buy simple stuff that could get her through the week while she figured out a plan for a meal routine. She was so used to just eating leftovers from the restaurant that it had been a while since she had been concerned about where her next meal was coming from. 

“Oh, hey, you’re new,” the man at the counter remarked. “Are you the Barrett kid?” 

“Yeah. Darcy,” she held her hand out.

“Pierre, of Pierre’s General Store,” he shook it. “You’re not what we were expecting.”

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that today,” she replied. 

“Caroline, get out here and come meet Marshall’s granddaughter!” Pierre shouted through an open door at the back of the store. A green-haired woman appeared through the doorway, followed by a young woman who was close to Darcy’s age. 

“This is my wife Caroline and my daughter Abigail,” he gestured to the two women. 

“It’ll be nice to have a proper farmer in town again,” Caroline remarked. Darcy chewed her bottom lip silently, not wanting to admit that she wasn’t sure she’d be the expert people were expecting. 

“I’ll kinda miss the property being abandoned,” Abigail stated. “I used to like going there with some friends to look for frogs.”

“Abby! Don’t be rude,” her mother scolded.

Abby opened her mouth as if to protest, but Darcy interjected.

“You can still do that, if you want. There’s no way I’ll have the land cleared any time soon. My main goal is to repair the old coop and barn and make them less… deadly.”

Darcy thought back to earlier when she had opened up the old barn to give it a once-over. A beam had fallen from the ceiling about three feet from where she was standing.

She shuddered at the thought of possibly having been squished to death on her first day. She wondered which of her brothers had the pool for her returning home on day one. She knew they had no faith in her but even they probably hadn’t stipulated that she’d be returning in a body bag.

“The back half of the property will likely stay pretty wild for the time being.”

Abby smiled at her. “That would be cool.”

Her grin gave Darcy the feeling that people had been using her family’s woods for more than just looking for frogs. 

Pierre rang up her purchase and she paid him. “It was nice meeting you,” he said. “Come back soon. And stay away from that Joja Mart! Their prices may be low, but you get what you pay for!”

Darcy just nodded and grabbed her bags off the counter. “Thanks!” she called out over her shoulder as she pushed the door open. 

She made it two steps out the door before she smacked into someone, her grocery bags tumbling out of her arms and onto the ground. 

“Ugh, Yoba, watch where you’re going,” a gruff voice said. She looked up into the dark green eyes of an angry, unshaven young man in a ratty sweatshirt. 

“You watch where you’re going, fuckhead,” she growled impetuously as she bent down to retrieve her items off the ground. “Do you just wait around in front of doors hoping to ram into someone?” 

His eyes flashed for a moment but his expression remained sour. He just shook his head and walked away.

 _What an asshole_ , she thought as she watched him go. She took a deep, centering breath and started her walk back home. 

She watched a squirrel scamper into a maple tree in front of the bus stop and thought about the man again.

She was still angry about his rude remark. After all, he had made no attempt to help her after running into her. But there was part of her that wished she hadn’t responded quite as rashly as she had.

She and her brothers spent so much time hurling insults at each other, it just slipped out naturally when she was the least bit annoyed. She decided not to let it bother her too much.

_I doubt I’ll be seeing much of him anyway. It’ll probably be fine._

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Shane had entered the Saloon after his closing shift at the Joja Mart, the same as every Monday night. He took his usual seat in the corner. He chatted with Emily while she washed and dried glasses behind the bar. She brought him a plate of pepper poppers and a beer. It was shaping up to be a standard night, just the way he liked it. 

At least it would have, if _she_ hadn’t walked in. 

The woman he had run into earlier that day drifted through the door at around eight o’clock and took a seat at the bar. She leaned her head in one of her small hands. Her arms were thin but toned and her nails were long and painted black. She tapped them against her freckled cheek.

“Hello, Miss,” Gus approached her. “Would you happen to be Darcy?” 

The woman nodded and held out her hand for him to shake. “Darcy Barrett.” 

“Pleasure to meet you! My name is Gus. I own the Stardrop Saloon,” he beamed. “Lewis mentioned you had moved in today. I would recognize that hair and those freckles anywhere. All the Barrett kids are the spitting image of their mother.” 

Shane saw the young woman smile for the first time at the mention of her mother. She had one crooked tooth on the top row. Shane cursed himself for finding her attractive. 

There was a gasp and excited squeal from Emily as she rushed over from the back room. “New farmer!” 

Darcy looked at the blue-haired ball of energy with wide eyes and an expression that suggested both amusement and mild concern. Shane realized for the first time why the name Barrett seemed familiar. _That’s the old man’s granddaughter._

He hadn’t known Marshall Barrett very well. The old man used to come to the Stardrop for dinner every day, but for the last few years of his life Gus delivered his meals to the farm. 

“You’re the new farmer, right?” Emily was buzzing with excitement.

Darcy nodded. She held her hand out for the second time and Emily clasped it in both hands. When she let go, the farmer had a small, cloudy pink gemstone in her hand. 

“What is this? Who are you?” she asked with a bewildered grin. 

“It’s rose quartz, it brings happiness and love. I’m Emily. My friend Sandy told me that the new farmer’s destiny would be linked to mine. I think that means that we should be friends.” 

Shane was enjoying watching the strange scene unfold. The new farmer was entranced by Emily. Shane imagined he would be too if he wasn’t used to her antics by now. 

“Our… Destinies?” Darcy looked at Emily with confusion and awe. “How does she know that?” 

“Sandy is an amateur fortune teller. She saw it in my cards.” Emily mentioned it as though it was normal— as if she was simply commenting on the weather. “Though she didn’t mention the new farmer would be a girl. Maybe she didn’t see it,” she hummed.

Darcy burst into laughter at that last remark. “I’ve been getting that a lot today. I’m not surprised that my family never mentioned me, but I’m a little disappointed that apparently nobody in this whole town had the imagination to picture a woman. Nobody thought to expect a five-foot tall woman who is neither physically nor psychologically cut out to manage her own ranch?” 

Shane snorted a laugh before he could stop himself. He met her hazel eyes and she looked for a moment like she was about to say something, but instead she just turned back to Emily. 

“So what brings you to Pelican Town if not your immense physical prowess and natural affinity for ranching?" Emily teased. 

“Bring me a blackberry cocktail and maybe I’ll tell you,” Darcy shot back with a smirk.

“Oh, feisty.” Emily turned and started making the drink. While she waited, Darcy spun around a couple of times on her bar stool. She stood up and walked across the bar where she had spotted the jukebox. Shane couldn’t see her selection, but he didn’t really care. He was more interested in the way her denim shorts were hugging her ass which swung hypnotically, side to side, while she shifted her weight from foot to foot, deliberating. 

Emily set down the drink at Darcy’s spot, just as a harsh baseline from an upbeat pop-country song barked through the old speakers of the ancient jukebox. The neon tubes lit up in time with the rhythm. 

Darcy did a little dance on the way back to her seat, making Emily laugh. 

“The new girl is fun, isn’t she, Shane?” Emily shot him a knowing look that suggested she had caught him staring. He just grunted in response and stared down into his beer. 

Darcy sipped her cocktail. Emily leaned on her elbows and watched Darcy intently with her big brown eyes. Darcy looked up at her and sighed, “Alright, okay. Stop looking at me like that.”

Emily perked up.

“I moved here to fix up my grandfather’s old ranch and avoid getting married.” 

Emily gasped, “an arranged marriage?” 

Darcy laughed, “Not exactly. I’m twenty-eight, which for a woman in a tiny, backwards farming town is practically dead,” she chuckled at her own joke. “Now my father is laying on the pressure for me to move out and be someone else’s problem. Considering we were trying to make the decision on whether or not to sell the old family farm here, I offered to move out here and try to fix it up myself.”

Emily was staring at her with admiration. “That’s really brave of you.”

Darcy just shrugged and took the last swig of her cocktail. “There’s still plenty of time for me to fail. My older brothers have a pool going for how long it’ll take before I give up and move back home. But that’s not really an option. I’d rather die trying to put this place back together than go home and face my family again.”

Shane’s curiosity finally got the better of him and he spoke up, “If you’re not a rancher, what do you do for a living?”

Darcy smirked at him. “Prince Charming finally speaks!”

He just rolled his eyes and passed his glass to Emily for a refill. “Never mind,” he muttered. 

“I’m just messing with you,” Darcy placated. “I thought we had a little thing going. We have a little meet-cute where we both yell at each other. You call me names, I call you names. You buy me a drink,” she expertly slipped the proposition in. 

“Do you drink anything less expensive?” Shane sneered, not missing a beat. 

"I like blackberries," she pouted. "Fine," she sighed, “two whiskeys, neat please, Emily. On Prince Charming over here.” Apparently Shane couldn’t hide his surprise at the forwardness of her actions because she shot him a smug grin. “What? You don’t really expect me to drink that piss water you’ve been slugging down all night, do you?” 

Emily brought their drinks over. She shot Shane another look. _Make a move,_ she mouthed at him. He felt a blush creep up his neck and hoped it wasn’t noticeable. 

He moved from his seat in the corner to the stool next to Darcy. She watched him as he approached, her hazel eyes locked onto his. 

She raised her glass of whiskey to her lips and took a deep swig. Shane watched the shape of her lips as they moved. They were pink and plump and he imagined they were soft. She set her drink down and started spinning her bar stool in lazy circles again. Her smooth, muscular calf brushed against his leg as she twirled. Suddenly, she hopped off and bounded to the jukebox again to put on a new song. 

He could feel himself loosening up as he watched her. 

“Where is the restroom,” she asked Emily when she returned.

“Head towards the pool table, take a left down the hall and then take the door on your right.” 

Darcy nodded and headed in the direction Emily indicated. Shane’s eyes were dragged back to the shape of her body. He wondered if she kept getting up just so he could watch her walk away. 

“If you don’t do something about that piece of ass, I will.” Emily remarked playfully. 

“Yoba, I know right.” He swirled the whiskey around in the little glass before downing it all at once. “Hook up with the new girl on her first night. What’s the worst that could happen?” He grimaced as the liquor burned down his throat. 

Emily just snickered and picked up his empty glass. “Maybe your destinies are intertwined as well.”

Darcy returned a minute later. “Shit I have to catch up,” she noticed Shane had finished his whiskey. She sat down again and he got a whiff of her long brown hair. It smelled like honey and vanilla. He was overcome with the desire to know what it felt like between his fingers, or wrapped up in his hand while he kissed her.

“I used to be a waitress in Lala City for like ten years,” Darcy cut into his thoughts. She looked into her whiskey as if she was reading her words in the bottom of her glass. “I used to help on the ranch a lot as a kid, and I was damn good at it. But when I turned about sixteen my dad got really weird about it. All of a sudden he was all ‘this is no business for a young lady’,” she straightened her back and mockingly imitated her father. “So I learned to drive, drove the half hour down to Lala and got a job waiting tables. I stuck with that until… now I guess.”

She knocked back the rest of her whiskey and whooped. “That’s good shit.”

“So you’re from the other side of the valley?” 

She nodded. “A tiny farming town called Clementsville.”

Shane had never heard of Clementsville and was only vaguely familiar with Lala City. It was Zuzu City’s sister city on the other side of the mountains. 

They sat in silence for a little while. Darcy was rolling the little pink stone Emily had given her around in her hands. Shane was stealing glances at her when he could. 

After the fourth time, she caught him. 

“Aha!” She shouted triumphantly, “you _have_ been checking me out!”

“Absolutely not,” Shane insisted. 

She glanced at him, her mouth in a smug grin. Shane couldn’t tell if her cheeks were pink from drinking or from blushing. “You _like_ me.” 

“No, I hate you.” 

“You do not,” she stuck her tongue out at him.

“I do. You’re annoying and you called me a fuckhead.”

“What?” Emily exclaimed. “You two have already met?”

Shane sighed. 

“We quite literally ran into each other in front of Pierre’s earlier today,” Darcy explained. “Prince Charming here made me drop a bunch of my groceries and then made no attempt to help me pick them back up.”

“Shane!” Emily scolded.

“She called me a fuckhead,” he defended. 

“Darcy!” 

“What? I call them like I see them.” 

Shane choked out a laugh. “You are such an asshole.”

“So are you,” she shot him a lurid glance. 

Darcy and Shane just stared at one another for a few tense seconds. 

“Shane, why don’t you walk Darcy home?” Emily suggested. “To make up for this afternoon.”

He rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what she was doing. 

“Fine. C’mon.” 

“Don’t seem so excited, Prince Charming.”

Darcy sauntered to the door of the saloon, flipping her hair behind her. It carried the scent of vanilla and honey back to him and suddenly he couldn’t wait to get her home. 

“Goodnight, Emily!” Darcy called from halfway out the door. 

“Goodnight Darcy!” Emily called back. “Good luck, Shane,” she said a little lower, so only he could hear. 

He shot her a glance, shook his head in exasperation, and followed Darcy out the door. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Darcy fumbled to get the door open and flip on a light. The walk to the farm had been silent, the sexual tension oppressive. 

She kicked her boots off by the door and clicked the radio on the table on low, an old country crooner howling through the crackling speakers. 

Darcy turned to him. He was standing in the middle of the room, taking in the small space. Her eyes roved over his body. He had the stature and build of a former athlete: powerful arms and legs, still muscular, but with the growing softness of disuse. 

She approached him and placed her hand on his arm. “Do you want a nightcap?”

They shared a charged look. Shane pulled her to himself and her breath caught in her throat. She drunkenly crashed her lips against his, his stubble scratching against her face. 

_What are you doing, Darcy?_ a little voice in her head asked. _It’s day one! You couldn’t keep it in your pants for even twenty-four hours?_

As if on cue, Shane started sliding his strong hands down the back of her shorts.

“Is this alright?” he asked, his voice a heavy whisper. The heat of his breath against her ear gave her goosebumps. 

Darcy nodded vigorously and moaned as he squeezed her ass. She traced his lips with her tongue before slipping it between his teeth. She ran her hand through his hair and he groaned with pleasure. 

She guided him backwards towards her bed, her tongue still pulsing against his. She sat him down roughly and climbed onto his lap, grinding her hips against his. His head rolled back against the wall as he relished the pressure of her body against his. 

She slid the hoodie off of his shoulders. “Can I take this off?” She tugged at the bottom edge of his shirt. 

He grunted and shed the old gridball jersey. She ran her long nails lightly over his chest and along the sides of his belly which sent a chill up his spine. 

“Shit, do you have condoms?” he asked, almost frantically.

“No, I have an IUD, it's fine.” 

“You’re not gonna give me an STD are you?” he chuckled darkly.

She shook her head, “No, of course not. Now shut up,” she pressed her lips to his forcefully, rolling her tongue into his mouth again. 

He scooped an arm around her hips and dragged her underneath him. She started frantically unbuttoning her blouse, revealing that she hadn't been wearing a bra. He drank in the sight of her exposed breasts. She relished in his lopsided grin as he ogled her body, thriving on the attention.

He lightly ran his fingers over her nipple before taking it into his mouth. 

She squealed in delight and bucked her hips when his mouth made contact with her breast, which made him grin. He traced his teeth over her hard nipple. She dragged his head back up to hers and kissed him frantically. They pulled apart for a moment and she admired his rugged face. His eyes were lidded and his cheeks were red.

“I wanna be on top,” she whispered, feeling heat climb up her legs to her core as Shane tugged her closer to him by the waistband of her shorts. 

He laid down on his back and she made a show of positioning herself atop his hips. “Is this alright?” she asked, undoing the button of his pants. He nodded, melting into her touch. She wasted no time tugging them down, as well as sliding her own off. 

She took one of his hands in both of hers and guided it between her legs. He moaned when he felt how wet she was.

“You are so fucking hot,” he moaned. He crooked his finger and gently slid it into her.

It was like lightning struck her. She felt an electricity in her body that lit her up from the inside. She let out a yelp and ground her hips down onto his hand. 

He grabbed her hips and lowered her down onto his cock. She rocked against him in rhythm. He dug his fingers into her hips, groaning in ecstasy.

Darcy felt a familiar clenching pain growing in her wrists, like the veins in her arms were being squeezed. 

She cried out wildly and bucked her hips against him in wider, lower circles. 

“Yoba, fuck, that- that’s so good,” he purred. 

Darcy could feel tears stinging the backs of her eyes as shock waves of ecstasy radiated from her core. 

She doubled down in speed, thighs straining. She was losing her rhythm but compensating for it with power, desperate to get closer to the source of the pleasure as she climaxed.

She felt Shane tense his legs and pump into her over and over again. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

He pulled his pants back on and turned to look at Darcy. “That was—”

Darcy was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall. Her head hung forward and her shoulders were shaking slightly. She was scratching her legs with her nails, making angry pink stripes on her tan skin. 

_Oh crap, what did I do?_ Shane thought to himself. 

“Hey are you okay?” he sat down on the bed next to her. “Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head and sniffed loudly. “No, no, it’s not you, I promise,” she assured him. “Sorry this is fucked up.”

“No, just… Unexpected,” he replied. “I should head out.”

She just nodded. He put his hoodie back on and made his way to the door. 

“This was fun. Maybe we can do it again sometime? No strings attached,” her voice suggested she was trying to regain her confident and flirty demeanor, but a pain in her eyes that he didn’t fully understand betrayed her. 

“Yeah, maybe,” was all he said. He opened the door and headed down the steps and through the woods towards the shortcut to Marnie’s at the back of the ranch. He looked back once, just in time to see her close the door. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

As soon as she closed the door behind him, she took a huge gasping breath of air. She felt like there was a knife in her chest. 

She hurried to the bathroom, stripped down, and collapsed on the floor of the tub. She turned the tap to the shower and curled up in a ball, still taking in greedy breaths. She squeezed her eyes shut, but it didn’t stop the visceral memories from flooding back.

_“Stephanie stop, I don’t want this right now,” I’m pleading._

_“You’re my girlfriend, what do you mean you don’t_ want _it?” She's caressing my face with her long, slender hand. She is slipping her other hand under the front of my shirt and cupping my breast._

 _I’m pushing her away. “Fucking_ stop. _”_

_Stephanie catches my face. Her nails are digging into my cheek. I’m crying. It hurts so fucking badly._

Darcy grabbed a washcloth off of the edge of the tub. She balled it up in front of her mouth and screamed into it. It did little to muffle the sound. 

She sat there, on the floor of the tub, until she ran out of hot water. By that point, her breathing was even and the pain in her arms had subsided. She climbed out and toweled off. 

She collapsed into bed, exhausted, not concerning herself with clothes. She wrapped herself up in her blankets and squeezed herself into a ball.

She fell asleep inhaling the scent of beer and cologne Shane had left behind on her sheets. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that sure was something. Also the 'pop-country song with a harsh baseline that barks through the speakers' that Darcy plays on the jukebox is 100% Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" just FYI


	2. Vapid Tramp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy meets a handful of new faces and finally does something resembling farm work. Maybe this won't be so hard after all? 
> 
> Mildly saucy towards the end.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Shane watched his Aunt Marnie knock on the door to the old ranch house. 

She, Jas and himself had been woken up early— much to his dismay, considering how late he had gotten home the night before. Their morning began with a commotion in the stockyard where a little shepherd puppy had been barking up a storm and chasing their sheep in circles. 

While Shane and Marnie were trying to decide where it might have come from and what they should do with it, Jas had become extremely attached to it. 

“Her name is Emma and I love her and I want to keep her,” she said with conviction. 

“Jas, sweetie, we can’t have a dog,” Aunt Marnie explained. “Especially not one that harasses our animals.”

“We’ll keep her inside! She can sleep in my room and I’ll feed her and walk her and brush her!  _ Please, _ Aunt Marnie?” Jas pleaded. The little sable stray was tugging on the laces of her shoes, succeeding in untying one of them and making Jas smile. 

He wanted to be able to say yes; to give her the dog and make her happy. But he knew the responsibility of caring for it would inevitably fall on him or Marnie, and he didn't want to unnecessarily add to the list of things his aunt had to deal with. Plus, he certainly couldn't take care of it. Not while working full-time at Joja and taking care of all of his chickens.

He sighed and knelt down, with some effort on the part of his aching knees, next to her on the ground. She quickly scooped up the puppy and hugged the wriggling creature to her chest, as if to ensure he couldn’t take it away from her. 

“Jas, you should listen to Aunt Marnie. A dog is a huge responsibility. And besides, we have so many other cute animals here,” he tried to reason with her. 

“Yeah, but none of them are puppies,” she pouted. 

“Do you think the new farmer would want it?” Marnie asked Shane. “Did you meet her yet?” 

“How would I know?” Shane replied quickly and a little too defensively. 

_ Smooth, Shane,  _ he thought. 

Marnie shot him a weird look, but ignored his comment. She let out an exasperated sigh and placed her hands on her hips. 

“Well, we might as well go say hello and bring her a welcome present.” 

Jas groaned dramatically. “Fine,” she moped, “but I get to carry her.” She kissed the top of the puppy's head. It craned up to lick her face and she started giggling.

No one could argue with that. 

“I’m coming!” They heard a voice shout from inside the house. A few moments later, Darcy had swung open the door. 

Her dusty brown hair was swept up into a messy bun on the top of her head. She had on a big flannel, similar to the one she had been wearing when he met her. Her black yoga pants hugged her legs and accentuated her shapely thighs. He noticed the crooked tooth in her smile again and he thought about the evening they had spent together. 

“Hello,” she grinned at the small crowd that had appeared on her doorstep. 

Aunt Marnie stepped forward. “Hello, dear. We’re sorry to bother you so early. My name is Marnie and I live on the ranch behind your property. This is my niece Jas, and my nephew Shane.”

Darcy shook Marnie’s hand. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” her eyes flashed keenly as she shook his hand, but nothing in her voice betrayed the fact that they had spent the night together. She effortlessly acted as though she had never seen him before. 

He wasn’t sure if he should feel impressed, hurt, or grateful. A little of all three.

“And who is this cutie with you?” Darcy asked. She crouched down in front of Jas and held her hand out to the puppy who was panting happily in her arms. It sniffed tentatively before licking it. 

“Her name is Emma,” Jas said quietly. 

“That’s actually why we’re here,” Marnie added. “We found this little one in our stockyard this morning, trying to herd our sheep. Do you happen to want a dog?”

Darcy looked at Marnie, whose eyes were pleading for her to take the dog, and then at Jas who seemed to be silently begging her not to, her head shaking slowly.

“Did you name her, Jas?” Darcy asked. 

Jas nodded shyly. She never took her eyes off of the stranger in front of her. 

“Who is she named after?”

“Emma is the princess of Highspring in Crystal Castle Adventure,” Jas said. 

Darcy gasped. “I love that game, I should’ve guessed!” 

“You  _ do _ ?” Jas was shocked. “Do you know how to beat the dungeon in the Swamp of Shadows?” She was bouncing on her toes. Any anxiety about the stranger seemed to have melted away. 

Shane and Marnie exchanged glances. They were both surprised at how well this interaction was going, considering Jas was usually devastatingly shy around strangers. 

“Yeah, you have to have the hyaline sceptre from the Cloud Caverns in your inventory to trigger a secret door that leads to the real boss fight. Otherwise, you just—”

“Fight the witch but nothing happens!” Jas finished. “Uncle Shane,” she turned to him. Her excitement was infectious “We need to get the sceptre!” 

He grinned at his goddaughter. He loved seeing her so happy. “Well, kiddo, I guess I know what we have to do tonight.” 

She squealed in excitement. 

“Alright, well I’m totally lost,” Marnie chuckled. “But I’m happy you’ll give Emma here a good home.”

Jas’s excitement wavered when she remembered she had to give the little dog in her arms away. 

“You’ll come back and visit her, right?” Darcy asked Jas, swooping in with the expertise of someone who had dealt with children before. 

Jas nodded vigorously. 

“I’d like that,” Darcy grinned back at her. “I’m sure Emma would, too.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

The sun was low in the sky and the spring breeze carried the scent of grass through the air. Darcy wiped the sweat from her brow and surveyed her work. Behind her, Emma ran barking through a flock of birds that had been pecking at the ground. Darcy went over and crouched by her. She jumped up and started trying to lick Darcy's face. 

"Who's my sweet girl?" Darcy cooed. "You'll help me clean this place up, won't you, girl? You'll be my good guard dog and protect my animals and my crops, huh, baby?" 

Emma ran circles around her legs like a furry whirlwind. Darcy picked her up and looked at her.

"What am I talking about? Look at you! You've never had a thought in your entire baby life! Your head is just full of love and air. Ugh, you're so cute!" She covered the puppy in tiny pecks on her ears, nose, and little black mask before placing her back on the ground and letting her scamper off. 

She had managed to clear a decent amount of the stray branches, weeds, and rocks from the vicinity of the house. She planted the parsnip seeds the mayor had given her in a little plot and watered them. It wasn't quite what she had envisioned, but it was decent progress for day two. Now her only other task laid out for the day was to talk to Robin about fixing up the barn. 

She made her way towards the carpenter’s house by cutting in front of the playground. 

She broke her stride in front of a dilapidated building, with boarded up windows and vines creeping up the walls. It looked familiar, like it had been plucked from an old photograph. She felt drawn to it, and stepped towards the door.

“Who are you?” a voice drifted into her thoughts. 

Darcy looked to her left for the source of the voice. Like a dream, a blonde knock-out of a woman was breezing towards her. Her crystal blue eyes were locked onto Darcy. 

“I- uh,” Darcy tumbled through her name, “I’m Darcy.” She held out her hand to shake. The other woman just ignored it. 

“Why do you smell gross?” was all she asked.

Darcy just stared in shock. That was not the opening line she had expected.  _ What is with the people in this town? _

“Excuse me?” Darcy asked incredulously. 

“You must be the new farmer Emily was going on about. It’s a shame, you’d almost be pretty if it weren’t for those hideous clothes. Why do you dress like that anyway?” 

Darcy looked down at her outfit. It was what she usually wore on the ranch: heavy work boots, shorts, and a flannel layered over an old t-shirt. Sure, the flannel was one that she found in the closet in her house, meaning it was her grandfather’s and a little dated—

_ What the fuck am I doing? _

“Why are  _ you _ dressed like  _ that _ ?” Darcy spat. “I didn’t realize there was a meeting for vapid tramps here.”

The other woman spluttered, piercing Darcy with an icy glare.

“Whatever. I was just asking, you cow.”

Darcy choked out a spiteful laugh at the comment. The two women stormed off in different directions, cursing the other under their breath. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

“How did last night go?” Emily asked Shane, passing him his first beer. He had just entered the saloon after his shift. The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon. “Was it everything we dreamed it would be?” 

She watched his usual scowl slowly turn to a goofy grin. “It was nice.” 

“Oh please, I need details!” she pleaded. “Was it magical? Did it feel like sex with someone whose destiny is entwined with yours?” 

“Well,  _ we  _ were certainly entwined,” he smirked into his beer. 

“You dweeb.” Emily went back to wiping down the bar.

“Also, I thought you were the one Sandy said was linked to the new farmer?” 

She shrugged. “The cards already laid out my future, you’re the one who’s winging it.”

She loved her job, but sometimes she felt like she was missing out on life by being stuck behind the bar. What would she have done if it was her on the other side of the bar with Darcy?

She knew she didn’t have much of a choice, though. She needed the money, especially considering the checks from her parents had become more infrequent the longer they were abroad. 

“The sex was… great,” Shane mentioned. His gaze was distant, like he was too busy remembering to focus on anything. “Maybe it’s just been a while but… Holy shit.” 

Emily squealed with excitement. “I’m so glad! You deserve to have a good time every now and again.” 

She worried about Shane sometimes. Frequently, if she was being honest.

The two of them had grown close over the years and she liked to dish with him on nights like this, when there weren’t many other customers or much to do.

It had started with the usual bartender-patron relationship. Emily would try and make small talk about his day or his job at Joja and he would shut her down immediately. 

But there was something about him that made her not want to give up. She liked to think they became friends because of her kindness and charm, but she knew that she had just chipped away at his walls for long enough that he finally started to acknowledge her. 

“Yeah, the only thing is...” his voice lowered to near a whisper which Emily felt was a little unnecessary. The only other people in the saloon at that point were Gus and Pam at the other end of the bar. 

“She kind of started crying afterwards?” Shane had a look of concern on his face as he stared into his beer.

“Maybe she was overwhelmed by sheer joy at the crazy hot sex the two of you had?” she tried. 

“Damn, what an ego trip that would be,” Shane chuckled. “But I don’t think that’s it. I turned around to put my clothes back on and when I looked back, she was crying.”

“What did you do?” 

“Nothing!” he said defensively. 

“No, I mean how did you respond?” Emily rolled her eyes. 

“Oh… I kind of… Panicked?” 

She tried to get Shane to meet her eyes, but he wouldn’t. “What do you mean you panicked?”

“I just… left…” he muttered. 

“You  _ left  _ her like that?” Emily shouted at him. “Shane!”

“It didn’t seem like something she wanted me around for!” he protested. “I mean, I’m not one hundred percent certain it’s not my fault, but she told me it wasn’t. I didn’t know what else to do? I’ve never had a one night stand start crying like that?” 

“That kind of surprises me,” she teased. 

“Don’t be a dick, Em,” Shane shot back. “It doesn’t suit you.”

Emily smiled to herself and shrugged. She tried to picture how she would react to the situation.

She imagined she might also be concerned that she had caused it, but she wanted to believe that she would have stuck around. At least to make sure Darcy was okay. 

She couldn’t even imagine the young woman crying. The entire time Darcy had been in the saloon there had hardly been a moment that she seemed anything less than perfectly jovial. 

She considered bringing Darcy a gift, and checking in on her. 

_ Would that be too much? _ she thought.  _ I could try to find out what her favorite foods are and see if Gus can whip one up? She said she likes blackberries, maybe I can do something with that? _

“Emily, don’t try to talk to her about it,” Shane insisted. “Don’t even mention it to her. I doubt she’d be thrilled to know I told you considering the universe brought you together, or whatever.” 

“What? What would make you think I’d talk to her about it?” Emily feigned surprise, as though she was not planning exactly that. 

“I know you, Em. You can’t leave anyone be when they’re upset.”

She huffed and leaned against the bar. She stared at her reflection in the mirror that lined the liquor shelves. “I just don’t want anyone to be sad, ever! That’s not a crime!” 

“No, it’s not,” he agreed. “It’s one of your best qualities, but we barely know Darcy. It seems like something we can just let her figure out herself.”

Shane sounded unusually sincere. Emily wondered if there was more to what happened between him and Darcy, or if the unexpected display of emotion had just freaked him out. Regardless, she couldn’t argue. 

“Fine,” she conceded unhappily. “I won’t bake her a cake and bring it to her house.”

“Yoba, Em,” Shane breathed a laugh, “take it down a notch. She’s lived here for a day.” 

“Yeah, well, I’m not the one who slept with her on her first night in town,” she tutted.

Shane spluttered a laugh. “It was your idea, Miss ‘make a move, Shane! If you don’t tap that ass I will!’” 

Emily snatched his pilsner glass of beer off the bar right as he went to pick it up.

“Hey!”

“This is no way to treat your best friend and excellent wingwoman who totally got you laid last night,” she smirked, before handing him back a refilled glass. 

“Yeah, yeah,” he snatched the beer back from her in a huff. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Darcy was still miffed about the irritating encounter with the blonde that afternoon as she made her way down to the saloon. She wanted to get the event out of her system and she didn’t have anyone to talk to in person besides Emily. 

The news from Robin had also left her desperately wanting a drink.

Darcy had originally hoped to invest in a few cows, but Robin had insisted that the old barn be torn down. Apparently the beam that had almost fallen on Darcy the day before was load-bearing. 

“It’s kind of a miracle that the whole thing is still standing at all given the amount of termite damage,” she had said. 

Darcy had asked her to come give a consultation on the state of the farm buildings and get a quote for how much things would cost to fix. The answer was way more than Darcy had saved up in waitressing tips. 

So they agreed that Robin would tear down the barn and fix up the coop, which still needed repairs, but thankfully nothing structural. 

She pushed open the door to the saloon and saw Emily joking with Shane at the bar. She felt for the little pink rock in her pocket that the blue-haired bartender had given her the night before.

Emily turned and smiled at her as she walked in and took her seat. “How was day two, Darcy?”

Darcy just sighed and laid her head on the bar. “Long and weird,” she groaned.

“Can I make you your usual,” Emily asked, a sympathetic smile on her face.

“Is it a ‘usual’ if I’ve only ordered it once?” Darcy questioned. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Make this one a triple, please.”

“Gonna need a bigger glass then,” Emily shot her a look but started mixing up the blackberry cocktail. 

“It’s nice to get someone in here who orders fun stuff,” she continued, ”I like making cocktails. It’s like art with alcohol.” As if proving her point, she poured blackberry syrup into the clear liquor and stirred it until the whole concoction turned blood red. 

She passed Darcy the cocktail in a long cylindrical glass with blackberry skewered on a toothpick. Darcy sipped deeply from it. 

“I heard you met my sister today,” Emily mentioned. She had a mischievous grin on her face. She grabbed a glass from beneath the bar and began idly wiping it down.

“Oh no,” Darcy moaned. “Please tell me your sister isn’t a beautiful blonde woman.”

“Yep. She was really angry when she mentioned you. She said you called her a—”

“Vapid tramp,” the two women said in unison. 

Shane chortled with laughter. “Yoba, Darcy, if you’re not careful people will start to think you’re  _ too _ charming.” 

Darcy groaned and covered her face with her hands. “I’m not mean, I swear! It’s not my fault, I just dish back what I get! Whose opening line to a stranger is ‘wow, you smell terrible, you would almost look pretty if you weren’t dressed hideously’?”

“Yep, that sounds like Haley,” Emily nodded. “She has a tendency to just… Say the first thing that comes to mind and not consider how people will take it. But she’s not a bad person, I promise,” Emily tried to improve the situation. 

“Well, she called me a cow, so I guess we’re even,” Darcy huffed. 

Shane was still laughing it up in his corner. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you’re having fun, Prince Charming,” she rolled her eyes. “What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be playing Crystal Castle Adventures with that little girl?”

Shane’s face fell immediately. “Shit, I totally forgot I promised Jas. Fuck,” he groaned. “Nice save this morning with the dog, though. Marnie and I weren't sure we would be able to get her to give that dog up without tears involved.”

“Thanks,” Darcy smiled at him and finished the last of her intense cocktail. Her cheeks felt warm and her head felt fuzzy. 

She couldn’t help but watch the way Shane’s hands moved as he brushed his hair out of his face and lifted his glass to his lips to finish his drink. 

She laid her head down on her folded arms. “What happened this morning?” Emily asked. She placed a glass of water in front of Darcy, “Drink this.”

Darcy held the glass with both hands and sipped it gratefully while Shane explained the events of the morning. 

“Awuh, a cute baby puppy!” Emily squealed. “I want to come meet her!” 

“Gimme your phone,” Darcy insisted. Emily pulled it out of the pocket of her dress. The case was red and glittery and looked like it was encrusted with tiny gemstones. “Wow, this is pretty.”

“Thank you!” She beamed. “I made it myself out of pieces of crushed fire quarts.” She handed it to Darcy, open to the menu for adding contacts.

Darcy just stared at her in awe for a moment before entering her phone number. Darcy was never a particularly crafty person, so she couldn't fathom how Emily could make something that looked so professional.

“Text me whenever you’re free and I’ll let you come meet Emma,” she handed the very excited bartender her phone back. 

“I’m going to get going before it gets too close to Jas’s bedtime.” Shane rose from his seat and left some gold on the bar, “This should cover at least part of my tab right now. I’ll get you the other half once I get my paycheck.”

“No rush, you know that,” Emily assured him. 

Darcy rose as well. She wavered a little when she stood, the triple shot hitting her hard.

“I’m coming with you,” she stated as she started following Shane out. 

“What? No you’re not,” he shot her a disconcerted look. 

“I am! I want to play Crystal Castle! And besides, you’d be lost without my help.” 

Shane rolled his eyes, but conceded. “Ugh, fine. If you must.”

“I'm so excited,” Emily clasped her hands together. “My two good friends are friends now too!”

Shane and Darcy shot each other a look.

“We’re not friends,” Shane insisted. 

“No way, we just fucked,” Darcy assured at the same time.

Emily smiled devilishly, “ _ Sure _ . We’ll see how long that lasts.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

“Uncle Shane, look out!” Jas shrieked. She was leaning over him, bouncing on her toes excitedly while Shane was seated on the floor of his room, trying to dodge the fireballs being lobbed at him by a massive demon lizard.

“Shh, Jas. Aunt Marnie is trying to sleep.”

Shane was used to playing video games with Jas clinging onto him or sitting in his lap, but it was the addition of Darcy watching the action next to him that made it hard to focus. 

“No!” They all groaned in unison as he got hit by a fireball and the screen faded to black. He set the controller down and rubbed his eyes. The words “game over” glared in red on the screen and the little cursor blinking between “try again” and “quit” seemed to mock him. 

They had been at it for over an hour. 

Darcy had verbally walked Jas through the Cloud Caverns, but any time Jas encountered enemies, she would pass the controller to Darcy or himself. 

“Once you defeat him, you unlock the door to the inner sanctum that starts the second phase of the game.” Darcy reminded him. 

“How long is this game?” Shane chuckled. 

“You have no idea,” Darcy muttered. “It took my brothers and I like a year of trial and error to beat this game without a guide when it first came out.” 

“Uncle Shane, we’ve gotta beat it! I  _ have _ to know what happens to Emma in the second part!” Jas insisted. 

“Well right now all you  _ have  _ to do is go to sleep,” he groaned as he got to his feet. “It’s way past your bedtime.” 

“Please, please,  _ please  _ let me stay up until we beat it!” she stuck her bottom lip out and pouted. Shane looked down at his goddaughter and sighed. There was no way he could say no. 

“Go brush your teeth and get dressed for bed. Then you can stay until we beat this dumb giant lizard,” Shane conceded.

Jas flung her arms around him in a big hug and squealed a series of ‘thank you's before rushing off towards her room. 

“I’m gonna go microwave a pizza pocket, do you want one?” he offered.

“Nah, I’m good for now,” she shook her head. 

Shane stepped out of his room and into the kitchen. He grabbed a Joja Mart brand pizza pocket, mindlessly unwrapped it, and tossed it into the microwave. 

He returned to the doorway to his room. Darcy was stretched out on his floor, checking her phone. He admired the tone of her arms while she held her phone up over her face and the way her long hair pooled around her head like a halo. 

The microwave beeped and snapped him out of his thoughts. He quickly snuck back to the kitchen, hoping Darcy hadn’t noticed him lurking. 

When he returned Jas was waiting patiently by the TV. Shane returned to his seat on the floor and took a bite of his pizza pocket. It was still cold on the outside, but the filling burned his mouth. Just the way he liked it. 

“I like your pajamas, Jas,” Darcy commented. “Are those little mice in teacups?”

Jas smiled and nodded shyly. 

“Very cool. Now, are you ready to say goodbye to the tyrannical demon lizard king? The plague of the Swamp of Shadows?” Darcy asked in an exaggerated, fantastical voice. 

“Yes!” Jas punched the air. 

“Then let’s do it!” 

One boss battle, one long cutscene, and one half-hour later, the evil had been vanquished. Jas yawned and leaned her head against Shane. Darcy powered down the GameStation and shut off the TV. 

“Time for bed, kiddo.” Shane said. He got to his feet and lifted Jas up, with some effort. 

“I can’t believe Princess Emma has zombie powers now,” Jas said sleepily into his shoulder. 

“Yeah, I definitely wasn’t expecting that one,” Shane agreed. 

“It was a bold choice,” Darcy conceded, “but it gets even more interesting soon, I promise.”

“Goodnight, Miss Darcy,” Jas waved weakly as Shane carried her out of the room.

“Goodnight, Jas,” Darcy replied. “Sweet dreams.”

Shane set her down in her bed and she wiggled under the covers. He tucked the blankets in close to her. 

“Uncle Shane?” her little voice piped up from her nest of blankets. 

“What’s up, kiddo?” 

“I really like Miss Darcy. I think she’ll take good care of Emma.” Jas yawned again. 

“Well, that’s good to hear. I think she’ll take good care of her too.” Shane smiled slightly at his goddaughter. She was clearly fighting sleep until she expressed these important points to him. 

“If you don’t marry Miss Penny, I think I’d want you to marry Miss Darcy.” 

He chuckled fully at the innocence of her statement. “Goodnight, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead and switched off the bedside lamp. 

“Goodnight, Uncle Shane.”

He walked back to his bedroom where Darcy was sprawled over the plush armchair in the corner of his room, checking her phone again. She had turned off the overhead lights and just left a reading lamp on, casting his room in a cozy glow. The phone cast a white square of light on her disinterested face, but her eyes lit up when she saw him enter. 

“Jas is so precious,” she gushed. 

Shane walked over to the mini-fridge and grabbed a couple of beers out of it. He sat down on his bed and cracked one open. He held the other out to Darcy, silently offering it to her. She shook her head. 

“She is,” he agreed. “It’s insane how big she’s getting. I’m worried that soon I won’t be able to pick her up.”

“You just have to get super buff so you can pick her up until she’s like twenty,” Darcy said flippantly. 

They both chuckled. 

“Thanks for coming tonight,” he said after a few moments spent in silence. He didn’t meet her eyes. “I think Jas really likes you. And, though it physically pains me to admit this, I probably would not have been able to get her through the Cloud Caverns myself. How’d you get so good at this game anyway?”

Darcy breathed a laugh. “Well, it came out ages ago, when we were in like middle school, and my brother Eli used all of his money he had saved up from his summer job to buy a shitty little TV and a GameStation with a copy of Crystal Castle. It was the first video game anyone in my family had ever played and so we were all totally in awe of it.” 

She ran a hand through her hair absentmindedly as she looked down at the floor. “It was kind of the first thing my brothers and I did together as a family after my mom and my sister died. We would all gather in front of our fifteen inch TV in the living room and take turns with the controller.

“Even after we all got older and Eli moved out, I would still go back and play Crystal Castle because it was nostalgic. It’s just complicated enough that I can get lost in it for a few hours and forget about things when I feel kinda shitty,” she chuckled darkly. 

“I’m sorry to hear about your mother and your sister,” Shane muttered, not fully knowing how to respond. 

“Eh, it was ages ago.” Darcy dodged the sympathetic remark and rerouted the conversation back to Jas, “I didn’t realize that kids still played Crystal Castle considering it came out like almost twenty years ago?”

“I’m trying to get her interested in video games because it’s something I like and I’m hoping we can bond over it,” he admitted. “It just seemed appropriate to start with a classic that had a princess protagonist. I’ve never beaten it, so it’s kind of new to both of us.”

“Oh, that’s really sweet,” Darcy cooed. 

“Don't patronize me,” he grumbled. 

“I’m not!” Darcy rolled her eyes. “I’m being honest. Which is also why I’m just going to come out and say it: I really want to kiss you again.”

Shane was blindsided, but didn’t find the proposition unwelcome. Before he could speak, Darcy had stood and walked to his bed. He placed the half-finished beer on the nightstand and shuffled aside awkwardly on the bed to make room for her. 

She ignored the gesture and sat directly in his lap. She ran her hand along the back of his head, up through his hair and pressed her lips to his. He kissed her back, harder. 

He traced his tongue lightly against her lips and she parted them generously. He swirled his tongue around hers and she sucked down on it. 

She continued running her hands through his hair and every time her nails brushed his scalp it sent a chill up his spine. She started tracing his jawline with kisses and he instinctively pulled her closer to him. She moaned into his neck as he ran one of his large hands under her thigh. 

She hooked a leg around his hips and pressed herself against him rhythmically, pushing him further back onto the bed. She tugged down the collar of his shirt and traced her teeth over his collar bone before lightly biting it. 

He leaned his head forward against hers and exhaled a moan. When he took a deep breath in he caught the scent of her hair. It carried the heavy smell of cut grass, but the notes of honey and vanilla still lingered. 

He ran his over her hip and under her shirt. “Is this okay?” he breathed, his fingertips tracing the wiring of her bra. She nodded her head but had stopped grinding against him. 

She smashed her lips against his and kissed him hard while he slid one hand under her bra, the other wrapped up in her hair. She let out a whimper as he cupped her breast. 

He hesitated. The noise she made sounded different from the night before, pained almost. 

He pulled away and looked at her. Her eyes were screwed shut and her nose was wrinkled. She looked like she was bracing herself for something. 

“Are going to cry again?” He asked. The question sounded more calloused than he intended and he instantly regretted it. 

Darcy chuckled breathily and wiped her eyes. “What, you didn’t like it last time? I was trying something new, I thought it would be sexy.” She punched him playfully in the shoulder. 

“Shouldn’t we talk about what happened last night?”

“We fucked,” Darcy responded flatly. 

“Darcy, you know that’s not what I mean,” he was trying his hardest to be sincere and she was deflecting every attempt. He was familiar with the tactic. 

He knew it must be at least this frustrating to get him to open up about shit. He suddenly felt a little grateful to Emily for being so persistent at the beginning of their friendship.

She grabbed the can of beer off the nightstand and downed it, another move he recognized. “What’s there to talk about?” 

“We had sex and then you started crying, and I’m not totally convinced that it’s not my fault.” He watched as she dramatically flopped out of his lap and onto his bed. “And now you’re crying and I’ve barely touched you.”

“I don’t know what’s happening, okay?” she snapped. “You’re not hurting me; it’s not about  _ you. _ I  _ want  _ to be touched! I  _ want _ you to touch me. I just don’t know why it happens. It’ll be really nice and then all of a sudden I feel like my chest is being squeezed and I feel like I’m dying.” 

Shane watched her stand and start walking circles around his room. He was beginning to feel like he shouldn’t have said anything in the first place. 

The more she said, the faster she spoke. “I wish it didn’t happen! I wish I could just fuck like a normal adult but I can’t! And I don’t know how to fix it! But like it doesn’t matter, right? The sex was good, wasn’t it?” She turned to him with an accusing glare. 

“Yeah, it was incredible! But I don’t want to keep doing this with you if it's hurting you, and I think it is, even if you won’t admit it,” he insisted. “Tonight we didn’t even get that far before you started to seem like you were in pain.” 

“Ugh, I know! I don’t know what happened!” She started wiping her nose frantically with her sleeves as she paced. “I just wanted to be kissed, this wasn’t supposed to be a big  _ thing _ , you know?” she whined pathetically. 

Shane walked to her and silently pulled her into a hug. She was rigid for a few seconds until she let herself melt into his embrace. 

“I thought we weren’t friends,” she mumbled into his chest. 

“We’re not. This is strictly a hug between enemies,” he said, trying to sound dispassionate. 

He felt her breathe a laugh. “Thanks, Prince Charming. I’m gonna go home.” 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

He crawled into bed, still thinking about Darcy. The night had not gone the way he anticipated, and he wondered whether or not he overstepped a boundary. 

He decided to drink away the strange sense of discomfort the evening had left him with. He opened another can of beer and checked his phone. Emily had sent him a text not long after he had left the Stardrop.  


> Emily: Have fun tonight ;)

He opened up his messenger and sent her a text back. 

> Shane: Whatever you do DONT ask Darcy about the crying thing
> 
> Emily: uh oh :/ 
> 
> Shane: Yeah. Big yikes. ill tell u about it tomorrow 
> 
> Emily: a lot to unpack with that one, huh?
> 
> Shane: u have no idea

He plugged in his phone and set it on the nightstand. He clicked off the lamp and finished his beer in the darkness of his room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever and I'm not thrilled with it, but I'm putting it out now because I know if I don't I'll lose my drive. 
> 
> I'm torn between releasing longer, more infrequent chapters like this one, or shorter chapters that are about half the length of this one. Does anyone have a preference? Is anyone even reading this? Idk, we'll see.  
> 


	3. Models in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy meets more of Pelican Town's beloved cast of characters and demonstrates that she's not exactly a role model.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Leah moved the extra chairs from her living room back into her dining room at the table. She looked up through the window in the breakfast nook to see the moon rising above the treeline, surrounded by a smattering of stars. It was the kind of evening she had tried to capture many times in oil paints. 

“I think that’s Marshall Barrett’s grandkid,” Elliott commented. He was peering through the back window that faced Marnie’s ranch. 

“What does he look like?” Leah called over her shoulder. She crouched down to look in the cabinet below her bar cart for a suitable vintage. 

“Short.” 

“What?” She stood up and gave him a curious look. She joined him at the window once she saw the grin on his face. He stepped back so she could get a better look at the newcomer. 

“Oh, no. She’s  _ hot _ .” Leah whispered in shock. The farmer was leaning over the fence of Marnie’s yard, petting a cow that had wandered towards her. 

Leah made a mental note of the way her white socks hugged her toned calves. Her dirty work boots lent her a rugged quality that was at odds with her manicured nails and professionally-shaped eyebrows. Pieces of hair had shaken loose from her bun and fell to frame her face which was dappled in freckles. Her skin shone white under the soft light of the moon. 

“Leah?” Elliott interrupted.

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just worried I had lost you for a moment,” he teased. 

“Should we say hello?” She looked at him with an expectancy that seemed to suggest that he did not have a choice in the matter.

“It’s the middle of the night, we’ll scare her to death.” 

“We can invite her to the next book club!” Leah clasped her hands together. “That might be fun!” 

Elliott cocked his eyebrow. “What if she’s not book club material?” 

“I don’t know, Elliott,” her voice lilted. She was gazing out the window again. “That ass is looking like book club material to me.”

“You’re incorrigible,” he snickered. 

“Oh please,” she rolled her eyes. “You get to thirst after your doctor for an hour after every time you see him. Can’t I have my moment of depravity?” 

“Fine, invite her in. Maybe she’ll give us something new to gossip about.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Darcy slipped out of the front door of Marnie’s ranch house and closed the door quietly behind her. The evening was warm and humid and the half moon cast a weak silver light over the forest. Stars littered the sky and reminded her of home. 

She reached in her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She squinted, momentarily blinded by the light of the screen.

She had a text from a number she didn’t recognize. 

> Unknown: Have fun tonight ;) 

It had to be Emily. Darcy smiled to herself as she added the contact. 

She heard the familiar snuffling of a nearby animal. A big brown cow loped towards her. Darcy stood on her toes and leaned over the fence to hold her hand out and the cow butted her hand with her broad snout. 

“Hello, pretty girl,” Darcy whispered, scratching the animal behind the ears. 

“Hello,” an unfamiliar woman’s voice made Darcy jump. 

She turned to see two silhouetted figures. The moonlight was not bright enough to dispel the shadows that cloaked their faces, but they were obviously much taller than herself. 

The familiar feeling of anxiety that she got whenever she would be approached by a restaurant customer after hours crept into her chest. Sometimes it was a guy from the bar who couldn’t take the hint that she wasn’t interested. Sometimes it was a customer that forgot something in the restaurant. Either way it was always the same immediate thought of:  _ this is how I die. _

“H-Hello,” Darcy said hesitantly, her voice hardly above a whisper. 

“We know you’re new in town and we wanted to introduce ourselves. Why don’t you come inside where we can see properly,” the voice gave a light laugh. 

Darcy nodded and followed them deeper into the dark of the woods towards a cabin she hadn’t noticed before. 

_ Don’t go, stupid! Don’t follow two people you just met into a creepy cabin in the woods just because they asked nicely! Have twenty years of horror movies taught you nothing?  _ the little voice in her head screamed, but she ignored it. There was a chance that these two strangers were nice and were not leading her into their spooky murder cabin to kill her, and she didn’t want to risk making another bad impression by running off in fear. 

_ If I die, at least it’ll be politely. _

They opened the door and stepped inside and Darcy followed behind them. 

The cabin’s interior was nothing like what she expected her murder site to look like. It was quaint and warm and there were half-finished art projects everywhere. Stacks canvases of various landscapes—forests, mountains, oceans— painted in oils leaned against the wall. The early form of a large wooden sculpture stood in the middle of the floor. 

The two figures moved out of the entrance and into the light where Darcy got her first good look at them. 

“Holy Yoba, they’re hiding models in the woods,” mumbled under her breath in awe. 

She was standing before two of the most beautiful people she had ever seen. 

“My name is Leah,” the woman held out a graceful hand. Her handshake was firm and her nails were short and painted forest green. Darcy couldn’t help but let her gaze slide past the woman’s hand to her light green button-up blouse tied up in a knot over her belly button. A sliver of her midriff peeked between it and the thick leather belt that looped through her jeans and hugged her hips. 

“You’re beautiful,” Darcy mused under her breath. “I mean I uh… I-” she took a deep breath and tried to find her words. “I’m Darcy.” She pulled her back and instinctively rubbed the back of her neck, which she noticed was slick with sweat. She rubbed it awkwardly on the front of her shirt. 

_ Oh Yoba, why is my murderer so pretty? _

“I’m sorry, we must have scared you to death,” Leah said. Darcy dragged her gaze up to the woman’s indigo eyes. Her wide smile was so sincere. There was no way she could be a murderer. _R_ _ight?_  


Leah swept to the far side of the room where a bottle of wine was waiting on top of a small bar cart and poured three glasses.

The man behind her cleared his throat and stepped forward. “My name is Elliott. It’s a pleasure to meet Marshall’s granddaughter.” 

Darcy just nodded. The man had long, flowing hair that fell past his shoulders and a sharp jawline. This all combined with his dapper burgundy sport coat and elegant disposition made him seem like he had just stepped off of the cover of a romance novel to sweep her off her feet. 

“I thought you guys were going to kill me, but this is much better,” Darcy stated with a nervous chuckle as Leah returned and handed her a glass of red wine. She followed them to the couch and sat down at the end. Leah sat on the other end and Elliott pulled up a chair. 

“I tried to tell Leah it might be a little alarming if we approached you in the middle of the night.” Elliott glanced at Leah over his wine glass. 

“Do you guys often hang out at—” Darcy quickly checked the clock on her phone, “almost eleven on a Tuesday?”

Leah chuckled. “We were picking up from our book club meeting that ran a little long.” 

“That good of a book, huh?” Darcy smiled back at her through a sip of wine. 

“Maybe you could join us some time?” Leah proposed. 

“Well, I haven’t finished a book all the way through since high school. But if there’s more wine involved, I’m sure I can give it a shot.” 

“It usually devolves into a gossip club anyway,” Elliott muttered from behind his wine glass.

“If you stop by next time you can meet Penny and Elliott’s  _ boy toy  _ Harvey.” Leah said, pointedly pretending not to have heard Elliott’s comment. 

Elliott coughed on his wine. “He is  _ not _ my boy toy,” he spluttered. After a moment of feigned woundedness he winked at Darcy, “Yet.”

She cocked her eyebrow and watched him sip his wine with a smirk. 

“Can I top anyone off,” Leah gestured to Darcy and Elliott in turn with the wine bottle. Darcy nodded and held out her glass, but Elliott shook his head and stood. 

“I should be going, it’s getting late,” he adjusted his coat. Leah stood and they shared a quick hug. He quickly pressed his cheek against hers and kissed the air. It made Darcy smile because it reminded her how drunk sorority girls from Lala City greeted each other. 

Darcy rose from the couch, anticipating a similar salutation. She stood on her toes to reach him and performed the same gesture as he had on Leah. He smiled warmly at her, his face flushed from a healthy amount of wine. They had been drinking and chatting for well over an hour.

“It was nice to meet you, Elliott. I’ll see you at the next book club,” Darcy returned his smile. 

“G’night, El!” Leah waved to him from the front door as he walked back towards town. 

She returned to her seat and dumped the last little bit of the wine into her glass. “So what were we talking about?” 

“You were telling me why you moved to Pelican Town.”

“Oh, right,” Leah hummed. “Well, I used to visit the valley with my family when I was little and I never forgot how beautiful it was. I always thought one day I’d end up here. I wasn’t sure how, but it seemed right, like destiny,” she chuckled. “But I think it was. I was looking for somewhere that would enable me to be more creative-- more than I ever could in the city-- and I found it. There’s so much artistic potential here, I almost can’t take it all in.” She laughed melodically. 

“That’s really nice,” Darcy smiled. She was entranced by the way the woman in front of her laughed and the way she tossed her braid over her shoulder and ran her slender fingers through her bangs. 

“I realized that Zuzu City was not for me,” Leah continued. “There was something about it that never really seemed right. My now ex-girlfriend, Kel, and I fell into this  _ grind _ —this routine that hardly left me any time to be creative. We were saving up for a nice house in the suburbs and maybe kids one day but it felt like… Like I was waiting around for my life to start. Once we had a certain amount of money I would get this magical feeling like ‘finally, now we’ve begun’. It was terrible.”

Darcy nodded Sympathetically. “I think I know the feeling.”

“Kel didn’t take it well when I told her I wanted to move. We fought for days over it,” Leah sighed. Her indigo gaze was distant. “Eventually I broke up with her, because I realized I can't be with someone who doesn’t support me. She didn’t care about my art. She thought it was a stupid dream. She was the kind of person that was always reminding me that I wouldn’t make any money off of art.” 

Leah took a long sip from her wine glass. When she looked into Darcy’s eyes, her gaze softened. “I’ll admit, it hasn’t been easy to make money, but I’m doing what I love and I’ll never go back. This place is wonderful and the people here are delightful and I can’t wait for you to find that out for yourself,” she grinned. “But I just couldn’t be with someone who didn’t want me to follow my dreams.”

“Hell yes! Fucking exactly!” Darcy cheered. Leah looked surprised.

“Relationship troubles of your own?” 

“Where do I even begin?" Darcy chuckled darkly. ”I broke up with my girlfriend of almost five years recently." 

"Oh, you're…" Leah let her words trail. She was waffling her hand in a weird gesture that suggested she wasn't quite sure what to say.

"I'm bi, yeah." 

"That's cool. I'm a lesbian." Leah added, quickly followed by a deep blush and an embarrassed hand to her brow. "You were telling your story, though. Go on." 

Darcy gave her an amused smile. "Well, things were… Not great for a long time. She had been treating me like shit and not listening to me or respecting me at all.. Eventually I decided to take my friends' advice and leave her. It didn't go well. We had this huge screaming match where she slapped me across the face so hard I fell down. There was a brief period where I thought she might genuinely try to murder me." 

“Oh, that’s terrible. I’m really sorry to hear that,” Leah frowned. 

Darcy just shrugged. “It’s over now, and has been for a few months. She won’t bother me all the way out here.” _I hope..._

“Well here’s to new beginnings and getting rid of shitty girlfriends!” Leah raised her wine glass. Darcy clinked her own against it with a cheerful whoop. She finished the last of her glass and set it on the end table. 

“On that note, I think it’s time I go.” 

They both rose and Leah walked her to the door. “Oh wait! Let me give you my number… For book club…” Darcy blushed. The two women exchanged phones. Their hands brushed when Leah handed her the phone back and Darcy felt a chill up her spine. 

“It was nice meeting you, Darcy,” Leah said as she gave her the same amicable peck on the cheek that Elliott had. Darcy thought she might explode at the touch. Her face felt like it was on fire. 

“You too. I guess I’ll have to get to reading before the next book club meeting,” she grinned. “Goodnight,” she waved and stepped into the darkness of night. 

“Goodnight, Darcy,” Leah called after her and closed the door. 

Darcy cast one glance back at the quiet cabin before making her way back towards home. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

“Fuck,” Darcy hissed for the third time in half as many minutes. She was trying to get back to the house by taking the shortcut behind Marnie’s but the land was still wild and she kept tripping over branches and rocks in the dark. The feeble flashlight on her phone was hardly helping. 

After almost wiping out for a fourth time, she decided to stop and give herself a few seconds to recompose herself. It was when she did this that she started to smell what she could almost swear was fire. 

She looked around frantically for smoke or a light between the trees but the woods were so dense that she couldn’t see anything. 

There was the distant sound of giggling to her left, and she started creeping slowly towards the source. She stepped on a large branch that snapped under her foot and echoed loudly.  


“Shit! I think someone’s coming,” an unfamiliar voice cautioned. 

“Hide it! Hide it!” another frantic voice responded. 

Darcy slipped through a gap between two maple trees and was hit by the unmistakable smell of weed.

Three twenty-somethings were huddled around a small campfire in a make-shift clearing. One of them she recognized as Abigail, the girl she met in the general store the day before. The other two were young men; one looked like the kind of emo kid Darcy hadn’t seen since high school and the other looked like a typical skater punk. 

“What the  _ fuck _ ?” Darcy gaped. 

“Please don’t tell our parents, they’ll kill us!” Abigail pleaded. 

Darcy looked at each of the ragtag bunch in turn. They looked like guilty teens that had just been caught by their high school principal. 

“Looking for frogs, my ass. It smells more like you and your friends come back here looking for  _ roaches _ ,” Darcy shot a smug look at Abigail. 

“I mean… We also like frogs,” the emo boy said, deadpan. The blonde one started cracking up. 

“You can’t tell my parents! Please,  _ please _ , promise me you won’t say anything to them!” Abigail begged her. 

“I’m not gonna narc on you, chill out. You're like twenty-five, not ten. I don’t give a shit what you do. I’m just pissed you didn’t invite me.” Darcy sat down on the ground next to Abby and snapped her fingers at the blonde boy who was still trying, and failing, to hide a joint behind his back. He passed it to her and she took a hit. 

“So who are these two?” Darcy passed the joint to Abby. 

“This is Sebastian and Sam,” she gestured to the dark-haired one and the blonde respectively. 

“I’m Darcy,” she gave a little wave. 

“Ohh the farm chick,” Sam put two and two together. “Cool.”

“So are you guys out here often?” she asked. 

“When Abby thinks her parents won’t notice her sneaking out. So like once or twice a week,” Sebastian replied. 

Abby was gazing into the small fire with a frustrated look on her face. “It’s so fucking unfair. Like you said, I’m in my twenties. Who cares if I go out? It shouldn’t matter, but my dad has such a stick up his ass,” she muttered. 

"It's not like my mom and Demetrius are thrilled about me wandering off at all hours of the night, but I think they've given up on me being the good one," Sebastian muttered. 

"My mom sleeps super heavily so, like, as long as I don't wake Vince up when I leave, it doesn't really matter what I do. Though my mom would be so pissed if she found out I smoke,” Sam passed the joint back to Darcy. “What about you, farmer lady?” 

“Oh, my mom is a really heavy sleeper too,” Darcy inhaled deeply. “She’s dead,” she exhaled, reveling in the shocked faces of her audience. She giggled as she passed the joint along. A smile spread slowly across Sebastian’s lips. 

“That’s fucked up,” he chuckled. 

Sam suddenly rolled with laughter, as her joke finally dawned on him. His laughter was contagious. “Dude, that is  _ so _ fucked up!” 

“Has anyone ever told you that you have, like, the archetypal stoner’s laugh?” Darcy asked him, not able to keep the grin from her face. She was feeling a nice cross fade from all of the alcohol still in her system. 

“We tell him all the time,” Abby smirked. She looked at Darcy earnestly. “Seriously though, don’t tell my dad I sneak out to smoke.”

“Oh my Yoba! Calm down, Purple Rain, I’m not going to tell your dad,” Darcy leaned to Abby and bumped her amicably with her shoulder. “I told you you could hang out here and… Look for frogs. I meant it. So long as you guys don’t burn down my ranch with your little fires, I couldn’t give a shit. Also, don’t call me ‘lady’, you’re gonna make me feel old,” she glanced at Sam, who was looking at her blankly. 

“No controlled burns, got it,” Sebastian commented. 

There were a few quiet minutes where the four of them sat in silence and stared at the small fire burning low between them. 

“I didn’t know farmers smoked weed,” Sam whispered to Sebastian, finally breaking the silence.

Darcy couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Truth be told, I don’t fit the farmer model very well despite the glowing Barrett reputation.” She gestured grandly to herself, “family disappointment,  _ extraordinaire _ .” 

“Preaching to the choir,” Sebastian chuckled darkly.  


“I don’t know what you guys are talking about, I’m the golden child,” Sam grinned. 

“Oh please, you’re Pelican Town’s biggest delinquent,” Abby guffawed. “I think you’re the bane of Lewis’s existence.”

Sam shrugged and shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets. 

“Is that why you moved here?” Sebastian asked. “To get away from your family?”

“Yeah, that’s part of it,” Darcy replied. “I’ve been family disappointment for like a decade now, but only recently has it started being an issue.”

Sebastian cocked his eyebrow while he lit up a cigarette. The other two looked to her curiously. She gestured to the box of cigarettes in his hands and he handed her one and the lighter. 

“One thing you have to understand about growing up in Clementsville is that, socially, we’re about two hundred years behind the curve. Meaning, women are meant to be seen and not heard. I was always very good at the being seen part— not so much the not being heard part. I like being loud and messy and stupid. I like going to parties and flirting and making messes and starting fights and Clementsville ladies do _none_ of those things.” 

She took a long drag from her cigarette and continued: “I think I was especially bad in my early twenties when I got a job at a fancy bar in uptown Lala. I fell into a shitty crowd of rich clubbers that didn’t know I was from the country. Did a lot of cocaine around that time. Got blacklisted from bartending not long after that.”

“Damn, farmer,” Sam whistled. “I got community service for grinding my skateboard on the flower boxes. You’re on some crazy shit.” 

“You don’t know the half of it,” she smirked, "but I haven't done shit like that in five years. I haven't even smoked weed in a few years. My family didn’t say anything to stop me, though, that’s what’s so wild about it. I come from a ‘see something, say nothing’ kind of family. I spent age eighteen to twenty-three basically not sleeping at all, trying to juggle family commitments and friends and work in the city. It wasn’t until I was forced to come out to my family a few months ago that things got weird.”

“Oh Yoba, that’s shitty,” Sam frowned. 

“Oh no, I didn’t get kicked out or anything. In fact, it could have gone way worse. My girlfriend of a few years who I had just broken up with showed up on our doorstep, demanding to see me, and told my dad and all my brothers that we had been dating, putting me in a really weird position. Not long after that my dad started mentioning how I should finally ‘do right by my family’ and get married. He even went so far as to try to set me up with his friend’s son.” 

“Ew,” Abby crinkled her nose at the thought of her father trying to set her up.

“Yeah, I know. Like hell am I getting married,” Darcy grimaced. “Especially not to some fucking boring Clementsville do-gooder.”

“So you decided to move to Pelican Town, where fuck-all ever happens?” Sebastian asked incredulously. 

“Yeah, it sounds stupid when I lay it all out. I’m already regretting it a little bit,” Darcy admitted. “I know I'm in way over my head, but I figure all the way out here my dad and my crazy ex-girlfriend and all the other shit I left behind can’t bother me. Plus, the people here are really nice… Mostly. Even the weird kids who hang out on my property,” she smiled devilishly. 

“We shared our weed with you, so you have to be nice to us,” Sam insisted. 

Darcy just smiled and crushed the butt of her cigarette under her heel. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

The front door creaked noisily as Darcy shoved it open and stumbled inside. She heard the curious snuffle of her shepherd puppy, Emma, as she raised her sleepy head from her spot on Darcy’s bed. She set the flashlight Abby loaned her in order to get through the woods on the table.  


“Good to see you’re already comfortable,” Darcy scratched behind the little dog's ears and it licked her hand. 

She wandered into the bathroom and started running the tap. She checked her phone, taking notice of the four new notifications: 

> guitarb0y182 has added you on ChatSnap from contacts! 
> 
> warrior_grl has added you on ChatSnap from contacts!
> 
> im-not-ok-i-promise has added you on ChatSnap from contacts! 
> 
> You have been added to the group “weed m8s” with guitarb0y182,  warrior_grl, and im-not-ok-i-promise on ChatSnap! 

“What have I done?” Darcy chuckled to herself. She set down her phone on the edge of the sink and started washing her makeup off. 

_ I bet you think you’ll be happy this time, don’t you, sweetheart?  _ Stephanie’s voice snaked through her thoughts like a ghost.  _ These people don’t get you. I told you, no one will ever love you the way I did. You need me. _

“Fuck off,” Darcy whispered to herself. She spread a glob of mint green paste on her toothbrush and stuck it in her mouth. She grabbed her phone once more and scrolled through earlier notifications while she brushed her teeth. 

> Unknown: The name of the book we’ve been reading is called The Heart of the Mariner, in case youre interested. We’re only on chapter five
> 
> Unknown: there are extra copies at the library in the museum. I’d be happy to take a walk there with you to grab one :)

The tension in Darcy’s shoulders eased when she thought about Leah. The memory of the way her indigo eyes shined when she talked about art was etched into her mind. 

_ What is it with you and tall redheads?  _ the voice of Stephanie teased.  _ I told you you’d never get over me.  _

Darcy could picture Stephanie leaning in her doorway, wearing the same smug look she always had when she thought she was right. 

Darcy spat violently into the sink, like there was acid in her mouth. She could taste blood as she rinsed her mouth out. She had brushed so intensely she made her gums bleed. She made eye contact with her reflection and rolled her eyes. 

She leaned down to the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a bottle of gin. It had been a pleasant surprise to find it left behind from her grandfather who had, no doubt, been using it as mouthwash. She took a swig that burned the shit out of her mouth. She carried the bottle with her to bed.  


She changed out of her clothes and into an oversized t-shirt. She pulled her hair up into a half-assed bun and took another swig of gin before flipping off the lights and flopping into bed. Emma snuffled unhappily at being disturbed. 

Darcy absentmindedly ran her knuckles down the dog’s back. She curled her legs up to her chest and took a deep breath. Her head hurt and she was feeling nauseous and lightheaded from being cross faded. She hadn’t experienced the particular sensation in years. The extra two shots of gin didn’t help, but she didn’t care— she just wanted the lingering voice of her ex out of her mind. 

She fell asleep an hour later to the sound of the puppy’s soft snores, thinking about the two tall redheads in her life. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Sebastian's username an MCR reference? >:3c Also I've been referring to Abby in my head as Purple Rain for so long that like, naturally I am not about to stop now. 
> 
> Also there are like three things I know for sure about Darcy:  
> 1\. GREAT ass  
> 2\. TERRIBLE impulse control  
> 3\. pure of heart, dumb of ass


	4. Stardew Valley Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day, another dollar.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Haley woke gently at five in the morning, as she did every weekday. She gave herself a few minutes to lie in bed and enjoy the way the sunrise cast warm grey light onto her floor from her window. She looked around at how it cast soft shadows on her clean white furniture and her beach wallpaper. Everything always felt much clearer and sharper in the mornings. Before the usual boring buzz of daytime life began, before anyone was awake, she could lie in bed and listen to the first few birds that called to each other and know nothing could bother her. Sometimes she closed her eyes and tried to pretend there was a buzzing city outside, full of things to do and places to go and interesting people to meet. 

She slid out of bed and sat at her vanity. She stared at her reflection while she brushed out her thick, blonde hair. She grabbed a pair of pink tweezers, almost dangerously sharp, and plucked a stray hair from her eyebrow. Out of the menagerie of bottles and jars and tubes on the vanity counter Haley chose one, squirted a drop of the cool, clear gel onto her finger tip and started spreading it on her face. She had a very strict regimen of serums and creams that left her face feeling moisturized and her skin looking even. The process was meditative. 

An hour later, she swished down the hall in her pink silk pajamas towards the stairs, avoiding the creaky floorboard in front of Emily’s room. She knew her sister got home late from work most nights and she didn’t want to wake her. She snuck into the kitchen and poured herself a bowl of cereal as quietly as she could. She yawned as she grabbed a bottle of apple juice out of the fridge and poured a glass. The plan was the same as every weekday morning: eat breakfast on the couch while watching the same cheesy morning talk show that she’d watched every day for years. 

She used to watch _Stardew Valley Mornings_ every weekday with her mom, a tradition that had started when Haley was in high school. She and her mom would catch the broadcast before Haley had to catch the school bus. 

When her parents left on their globe-trotting endeavors, her mother assured her that she would try to keep up tradition by watching _Stardew Valley Mornings_ every morning if she could. That way— in a way— they would still be watching it together. Haley doubted that her mom was really holding up her end of the deal considering that the local talk show likely wasn’t available anywhere else. The ritual still meant a lot to Haley, though.

Routine was thrown out the window when she nearly dropped her dishes in shock upon seeing Emily in the living room, doing some kind of complicated yoga move. She was standing in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a circle of colorful rocks, pulling one foot up behind her back and nearly over her head. The television was muted but flashing images of schools of fish and whales played on the screen. 

“You scared the shit out of me, Em! What are you doing awake so early?” Haley asked, extremely annoyed. Morning was the _one_ time of day that was totally hers, why did Emily have to ruin it?

“I’m connecting with my crystals,” Emily responded nonchalantly. She let go of her foot and crouched on the floor, transferring into a headstand. 

“You look like you’re doing yoga and watching a nature documentary,” Haley said. 

“Exactly,” Emily failed to elaborate further. 

Haley tried to assume her natural ‘my sister is a weirdo’ stance of incredulity by cocking her hip and resting her hand on it with a sigh, but she was still holding dishes and it didn’t have the same effect. She looked more like she was frustrated with the breakfast in her hands than with Emily, not that Emily could see her very well upside-down. 

Haley sat down on the couch and set her dishes on the end table in a huff. “Well, can you talk to your rocks somewhere else? I want to watch my show.” 

“Oh yeah, I forgot! I didn’t realize you still watched it. Do you think mom still does?” Emily kicked herself out of her headstand and sat cross-legged in front of her. 

Haley just shrugged and grabbed the remote. She flipped to her channel where there was a commercial on for some medication or other. The clock on the wall indicated that she still had about ten minutes before her show. 

“I haven’t talked to them in ages. They either never have cell service, or have decided to swear off answering their phone,” Haley replied. She wished her parents were better at communicating now that they were halfway around the world. Sometimes she wondered whether they were ever coming back. It made her nervous to think that anything could happen to them and she wouldn’t know, at least not until much later.

“When was the last time we got a letter? Last season?” Emily asked.

“Feast of the Winter Star,” Haley confirmed. “They sent money.”

Emily just nodded and closed her eyes. She hovered a hand over one of the rocks in her circle and hummed quietly. After about thirty seconds she shifted her hand over the next rock and hummed again in a different pitch. 

Haley sighed loudly, trying to convey more irritation than in her usual sighs. Emily showed no sign that she heard. Haley rolled her eyes. “What are you doing _now_?” she asked, exasperated both at being ignored and at the fact that Emily was ruining her routine. 

“Aura transfer,” Emily said matter-of-factly, not opening her eyes. She hovered her hand over the next rock and hummed a new tone. 

“You’re so weird.”

“It’s very important when working with new crystals that your energies are compatible,” Emily went on. “Sandy sent me these in the mail yesterday and I want to make sure that they’re all cleansed and happy.”

“So you woke up early to introduce yourself to some rocks?”

“No, this is just what I’m doing while I wait for the bread I'm making to rise.”

“You’re baking bread?” Haley asked, her voice betraying just the slightest hint of interest. Emily baked _really_ good bread. 

“Yeah, but it’s for Darcy,” Emily winked open one eye just long enough to see Haley roll her eyes dramatically. 

“Ugh, why? She’s so annoying.”

“You met her for a sum total of maybe two minutes, Hales. She’s actually really fun once you get to know her,” Emily insisted. “You should give her a chance.” 

“I _tried_. She called me a tramp,” Haley harrumphed. 

“I agree that it wasn’t very nice, but perhaps you were a little rude to her as well? You didn’t even tell her your name, you just told her she looked hideous.” Emily was using her mothering tone. 

Haley was very familiar with it considering Emily used it on her all the time. Even though Emily was only a few years older than her, she always acted like she was _so_ wise. 

Emily had always been the kind of person that had everyone’s best interest at heart. Haley found that extremely annoying. She found it way more convenient to just be honest with people than try to appeal to them or make them like her. 

_If anyone doesn’t like me, that’s their loss,_ Haley thought to herself. 

“She _did_ look hideous. And she smelled gross— like sweat and grass,” Haley crossed her arms. She was _not_ in the wrong, and no amount of tongue-lashing from her high-and-mighty sister was going to change her mind. 

“See, those are inside thoughts,” Emily tapped her index finger to her temple. “You’re a big girl, you should know this.” 

“Ugh, shut up” Haley snapped. 

“It’s just…” Emily paused for a moment, dropping her mocking tone. “I don’t think it could kill you to make a few more friends, and you and Darcy have a lot more in common than you might think.”

“I have Alex,” Haley said stubbornly.

“And that’s great, but don’t you ever get tired of only having one person to rely on?” Emily said quietly. “You don’t have to be scared of making connections, Hales.”

 _I have you_ , Haley thought, but stayed silent. She couldn’t help but feel like she somehow lost this conversation. 

Emily rose to her feet and started placing the small rocks that surrounded her into the deep pockets of her harem pants. Emily always did yoga in the same pair of purple pants patterned with elephants. She called them her ‘good vibes pants’ Haley remembered, feeling some secondhand embarrassment for her dorky sister. 

“Look, as soon as the bread is done baking I’m going over to Darcy’s and we’re going to chat. I would really like it if you came with me. She even has a puppy,” she let the last word ring out in a sing-song tone. 

Haley huffed. She did love puppies… But there was no way she was going to face that stupid farmer and give Emily the satisfaction. 

“Absolutely not. Now go away, I want to watch my show.” The cheery intro for _Stardew Valley Mornings_ had begun. 

Emily and Haley both watched for a minute in silence at the sunny orange graphics dancing across the screen. 

“I hope mom is watching,” Emily sighed before walking into the kitchen, not casting another glance at Haley. 

_Me too_ , Haley thought to herself. She curled her legs up on the couch and grabbed her cereal off of the end table. It was getting squishy from the milk. Another little disappointment to add to the morning’s list. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Darcy’s eyes shot open in the gloom of the ranch house. Her breathing was heavy from a nightmare, the details of which were already slipping from her mind. She felt around in her mouth with her tongue to ensure she hadn’t really lost any teeth. They were all there. She sat upright and took a quick, heaving breath. 

Feeling the commotion, Emma yawned and scrambled across the covers into Darcy’s lap. “Hello, pretty girl,” Darcy whispered hoarsely while the puppy licked her chin. Try as she might to remember what her bad dream had been about, she couldn’t at all. She thought maybe it was better that way. 

She reached down and grabbed her phone off the floor. There were new messages from three different conversations. 

She opened the first, the group chat she had with her brothers: 

> Michael: well i officially lost the pool :(
> 
> Thomas: I havent I gave her until the end of the season to bow out
> 
> Zack: I lost on day 2 :P

Darcy rolled her eyes and typed out a response

> Darcy: U guys r such bastards. Im not coming home EVER!!! 
> 
> Darcy: At least im doing shit for myself. How does it feel to be shoveling cow shit for dad at age 35 Zack?? That feel good?

She closed the group chat and opened the next message. It was from her best friend, Vivienne. 

> Viv: expect a package today <3 I know ur gonna kill it at this whole farming thing 
> 
> Viv: And if u dont u can always be a full time nanny for Jojo ;)

There was a photo attached of Vivienne and her husband holding their son Jonah. The two-year-old was Darcy’s unofficial godson and she was both thrilled to see a picture of him and deeply wounded at the thought of not being able to see him anymore. Her desire to be his cool, formative aunt was a major player against her decision to move to Pelican Town, but in the end her ego wouldn’t let her pass up the opportunity to get a fresh start away from Stephanie and hopefully stick it to her family in the process. She saved the photo to her camera roll and opened the next message. 

It was a message from Leah that she must have gotten right after she fell asleep.

> Leah: Tonight was really fun!! Maybe next time you come by we can make a salad out of 

those dandelions you brought me :) 

Darcy grinned. There was a reason to be grateful for moving. A tall, talented, red-headed reason. She thought back to the night before, standing in front of Leah’s cottage with a basket of dandelion greens she had foraged from land she cleared on the farm over the week. That coupled with the bottle of wine with shiny red ribbon on it made her feel like a sorely under dressed high-schooler come to pick up a prom date that was way out of her league. 

> Darcy: I’m babysitting Jas tonight but maybe tomorrow? Soon, I promise 

Darcy closed her phone and set in on her bed. She stretched her back and was about to stand when it buzzed once more. 

She tapped the screen. 

> Zack: I hope u get kicked by a horse

She grinned. 

> Darcy: <3

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

“Hey, Haley, watch this!” Alex called to her. She looked up from her camera to see him throw his gridball long towards the river. He rushed under it to catch it at the last minute before it fell in. She’d seen it before. 

She was sitting on the front steps of the Mullners’ house pretending to watch Alex practice and taking pictures of the bird sitting on top of the fence around Dusty’s yard. 

She was adjusting the white balance when Alex shouted, “think fast!” 

She squealed and almost dropped her camera as he feigned throwing the ball at her. “Alex! That’s not funny!” 

“Relax, babe,” he joined her on the steps, “you know I’d never expect you to catch it.”

“Hmph.”

“What are you doing?” he peered over her shoulder. 

She was flipping through the photos on her memory card. There were pictures from the Feast of the Winter Star celebration the year before, a few shots of a sunset from the docks, as well as some of Alex practicing. 

“I like that one,” he said, pointing to an action shot of him catching his gridball after a long pass, similar to the one he just made. 

“The lighting could be better,” she remarked flatly. She sighed. “I’m so bored.”

Alex chuckled, “You’re always bored.” 

She thought about his statement for a moment. She guessed it was true. There wasn’t anything to do in Pelican Town. She considered going on her phone and shopping for more clothes, but decided against it. She already had so many cute outfits, just nowhere to show them off. 

_God knows Alex never comments on my outfits anymore,_ she thought. 

She looked over at her boyfriend who was tossing his gridball from hand to hand. They had been dating on-again off-again since high school. Recently, they had been in their longest on-again stint ever— almost two years— but the familiar sense of dissatisfaction was creeping up. 

In high school, when she would get this feeling she’d find some petty reason to break up with him, like if she saw him looking at another girl. As soon as she turned around and started flirting with another guy, Alex would start showing off for her and trying to win her back. 

“Don’t worry, babe,” he slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. He smelled like sweat and she wrinkled her nose. “Once I go pro, you know we’re gonna move to Zuzu city and I’ll buy you anything you want!” he beamed at her.

“I bet I could go long all the way over the bridge to the beach, watch!” He rose and sent a pass spinning south. 

She gazed in that direction, at the bank of the river and the treeline behind it. A small cluster of wild daffodils caught her eye at the edge of the path. Daffodils were her second favorite flower, after sunflowers, of course. Seeing them pop up all over the place was one of the only things she liked about spring. They made her smile— at least until Alex crashed through them while backpedaling to catch his ball. 

She winced at the sight of the trumpet-shaped yellow blooms dangling sorrowfully from broken stems. There was a time in their relationship when Alex would have dropped everything he was doing to pick those for her. He knew how much she liked them, but it’s like he didn’t even remember anymore. 

She couldn’t think of the last time he did or said something truly spontaneous or romantic for her. She knew they were reaching the point in their relationship where they were getting too comfortable. It was _boring_. 

“I got it! Did you see that one, Haley?” He shouted from the threshold of the beach. 

“Great job, babe,” she called back, trying to remain encouraging. He looked so pleased with himself. 

She squeezed her camera in her hands, looked down at the picture on the display of Alex and his gridball, and sighed. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Darcy was frantically washing dishes trying to clean up before Emily arrived when she heard the knock at the door. “One second!” she shouted. She dropped the dishes and started kicking dirty clothes under her bed and out of the way. 

Emma was going bonkers in front of the door, barking and pacing back and forth in front of it, eager to meet whoever was there. Darcy gathered as many candy wrappers as she could fit in her hands from off of the floor in front of her spot by the TV and kicked the ones she couldn’t under the chair, vowing not to forget them there. She would rather not leave evidence of her chocolate habit for Emily to see. She scooted Emma out of the way of the door with her foot and opened it up, beaming brightly at her guest, “Hello!” 

Emily stood there, blue hair vibrant in the spring morning sun. She had a grin to match, a basket of bread in one hand and a package in the other. “Hey! This was on your doorstep,” she handed it to Darcy and stepped inside. Emma immediately started jumping up on her legs. 

“Yoba, that smells so good,” Darcy coaxed the bread out of Emily’s hand and placed it on the table, “I haven’t eaten anything all day.” 

“I’ll take over bread slicing duty if you take this box,” Emily passed her the package and crouched down to pet the puppy. Then she started rummaging around the disorganized kitchen for a bread knife and some plates. “Do you have butter?”

“Yeah, in the fridge,” Darcy replied, not looking up. She slipped an ancient-looking pocket knife out of the deep front pocket of her flannel shirt and was going to work on opening the package. She sliced through the tape and let out an uncharacteristic squeal when she saw what was inside. 

Emily spun around, “What? What is it?”

Darcy was gushing over a handful of framed photographs. “Oh this one is so _cute!_ ” Emily looked over Darcy’s shoulder to see what she was cooing over. They were all pictures of the same baby. 

“Who is _this_?” Emily asked, taking a frame. She immediately understood Darcy’s reaction. The little boy was only a year or two old and had a wild tuft of dark brown hair. In the picture she was holding he was wearing a pair of blue overalls with little ducks on them. He was grinning at the camera with his eyes shut. He was precious. 

“He’s my godson, Jonah,” Darcy replied before _aww_ -ing at another photo of the baby. 

“You have a _godson?_ ” Emily asked, incredulously. 

Darcy finally looked up, confused at Emily’s tone. “Yeah?”

“Sorry, I just didn’t expect you to be the… Parenting type.”

“He’s my best friend’s son. He’s like… the light of my whole stupid life, just look at him,” she held up a photo of Jonah in a Spirit's Eve costume. He was dressed like a little frog. “Besides, you don’t have to be of the parenting sort to have a godchild. Just look at Shane— he’s like the least child-friendly person in this town and he’s got a goddaughter.”

“Touché,” Emily shrugged and went back to slicing bread. “Have you… seen him recently?” she asked suggestively. 

Darcy was carrying the frames to various spots on the walls, trying to see where they would fit best. “We’ve not slept together since that first time,” she replied. She thought she found a nice space for one of them among all of the other portraits on the wall. Another would go nicely on the fireplace mantle.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, sorry to disappoint but the hate-fucking did not last long.”

“That was _not_ hate-fucking! You two are so dramatic,” Emily rolled her eyes.

“It was too! He’s my mortal enemy!” Darcy laughed and set one frame on an empty hook on the wall. 

“How am I the weird one in this group when you two are the ones who need to be arch-nemeses to justify existing in the same room together, or whatever it is you do.” 

Darcy appeared at her side having finished playing interior designer for the moment. “Because you’re so cool and quirky and talented and us mere mortals simply cannot compete?” Darcy bumped her with her hip. 

“Mmhm,” Emily nudged her back. There was a comfortable silence as Emily buttered pieces of bread and Darcy watched. Darcy pushed the breadcrumbs off of the counter and into her hand. She dumped them in a little pile in front of Emma who had been waiting happily on the floor for a treat. She eagerly licked them up and snuffled the floor looking for more. 

Emily brought the bread to the table. She happened to look into the box as she did so and exclaimed, “Holy crap, did you see this?” 

“See what?” Darcy looked in the box herself. She pulled out a bottle of top-shelf whisky. It was her favorite brand and it must have cost Vivienne a small fortune. “God damn.” She sat down and cradled the bottle in her hands, 

Emily whistled. “That’s the nice whiskey. Must be a pretty good friend.”

“The best,” Darcy said quietly with a soft smile. She owed Viv a damn good birthday present for this. “Do you want some?”

“Darcy, it’s nine in the morning,” Emily shot her a baffled look. 

“Okay fine, I’ll wait until you leave,” she stuck her tongue out. Darcy took a bite of the bread and her eyes widened. It was warm and soft and a bit sweet and she decided in that instant that she would be happy just eating this bread for the rest of her life. “Dude… This is so fucking good,” she said through a full mouth.

Emily smiled and took a seat at the table. Emma was weaving in between the legs of the chairs waiting for someone to drop some crusts. Emily scooped up the puppy into her lap and tickled her ears. “I guess that means I won’t be seeing you at the Stardrop tonight?” 

“I can’t, I’m babysitting Jas tonight,” Darcy replied. 

“You’re babysitting your mortal enemy’s goddaughter?” Emily gasped dramatically and clutched at imaginary pearls. 

“Har har. No, it’s not for _him_ , I’m doing it for Marnie. In return for babysitting sometimes, she’s going to give me a couple of chickens when I get the coop fixed up.”

“Bad news about who takes care of all of those chickens,” Emily joked. 

“Noooo,” Darcy moaned. 

“Speaking of the saloon, why haven’t I seen you these past few nights?” Emily asked around a bite of bread. 

Darcy felt her cheeks flush. “I’ve been hanging out with Leah.”

“Ooohh,” Emily bobbed her eyebrows meaningfully, “Pelican Town’s elusive artist.”

“It’s not what you think,” Darcy tried, “we haven’t even kissed. There’s something about her that makes this all feel like a schoolgirl crush. Like when I’m with her I’m not thinking about having sex with her, I’m thinking about how soft her hair must be, and how pretty her lips are.” Darcy was fully blushing at this point. 

“That’s so cute,” Emily gushed. 

“I imagine I’m ruining my own hardened, cool girl image, huh?” 

“Darcy has a crush on Leah,” Emily sang to the puppy on her lap. Emma wagged her tail and licked Emily’s nose. 

“Yeah, yeah. So anyway, that’s where I am all the time now, I guess.” 

“So what do you guys do? Or do you just spend the whole time looking at her soft hair and pretty lips?” Emily teased. 

Darcy rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help her smile. “She really likes nice wine and cooking, so we drink and chat. These past couple of nights we’ve been making dinner together. She forages for a lot of her own food, so she has all of these recipes made from stuff from the valley. It’s mostly salads and green stuff which is… Not ideal, but I will eat salad every time I go to her house if that’s what makes her happy. ”

“Wow, you’ve got it bad, Darce.” Emily watched happily as Darcy continued to gush about Leah. She reminded her of herself when she first met Sandy. She recalled that she never shut up about the beautiful desert shopkeeper to anyone who would listen. 

“She’s recently showed me her collection of old movies, which is amazing because I adore classic horror and thrillers and she has some amazing selections. So now we make dinner and watch movies.”

“Ooh, that’s a good opportunity to make a move,” Emily suggested with a knowing wink. 

“I know, I know. I want to, I’m just so nervous. God, I feel like I’m sixteen again, this is so dumb! But she’s so cool and talented and _completely out of my league_ ,” Darcy sighed and pushed some stray hairs from her face. 

“She’s not out of your league! You’re great, and you two seem perfectly matched,” Emily smiled wide. “Just use a movie as an excuse to snuggle up to her.” 

Darcy sighed and squished her face between her hands, “Ugh, I _know_ and I _want_ to, I don’t know what’s happening to me. I used to be so good at this.”

“Leah is quite a looker,” Emily conceded. “I think that kind of beauty would make anyone nervous. I’ve never seen anyone make a move on her in the bar on weekends. There were some rumors that Elliott would but—”

“—they’re both gay,” they said in unison. 

“I learned that Elliott has a thing for the good doctor, so you can file that away with your bartender’s secrets.” 

“Harvey? Wow… Well, I suppose that makes sense, they’re both very mature and… Well-groomed.”

The two women spent the next hour dishing. Emma fell asleep in Emily’s lap. Eventually Emily left to get ready for her aerobics class that she took alongside some of the older women in town, leaving Darcy to herself. 

When Darcy walked to the window she saw big grey clouds rolling in and was thankful she wouldn’t have to water her little garden plot that evening. She poured herself a shot of her new expensive whiskey and thought about Vivienne and Jonah. Most of all she thought about Leah. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

“Wait, wait, bro look, I think I got it this time.” 

“Dude, Morris is gonna kill you if you dent another can,” Shane turned to see Sam practicing the same trick he had been trying to perfect for weeks now. He was trying to roll a can of green beans across his shoulder like a basketball trick he had seen once. So far he had dropped every one of them. Sometimes he caught them in time, most of the time he did not. 

“No I can feel it, this is it,” Sam insisted with that same goofy grin he always seemed to wear. Shane obliged and stopped stocking the shelf he was kneeling in front of in order to give Sam his full attention. 

Sam managed to roll the can along his left arm, but it hit his shoulder blade and rolled down his back. It hit the ground with an unceremonious _thunk_ that echoed through the Joja Mart. Sam hurriedly picked it up and shoved it to the very back of the shelf he was supposed to be stocking, placing several more, undented cans in front of it. 

“SAMSON,” Morris stormed across the Joja Mart and into the aisle Sam and Shane were working in. Shane tried hard to look like he was not laughing. “Did you just damage _another_ can?” he demanded. 

Sam stood by his shelf, the picture of innocence and said, “No sir, you must have heard the lightening.” By some miracle of providence, a rolling wave of thunder could be heard throughout the store. The rain had picked up considerably. 

Shane almost lost his composure completely.

Morris examined the shelves and the floor around Sam. When he couldn’t find anything amiss he sniffed and turned on his heel. “No horseplay, boys,” he said, sounding like a kindergarten teacher. He walked away. 

One Morris was safely across the store, Shane and Sam exchanged a look and cracked up. 

“Oh my god,” Shane shook his head with a disbelieving smile. 

Sam wiped a tear from his eye as he laughed. “I can’t believe that worked!” 

“You are one lucky sonuvabitch, dude.” 

“Lucky enough to pull it off this time?” Sam tossed a can in impishly from one hand to the other. He raised his eyebrows at Shane, urging him to egg him on. 

Shane got up off of his knees with some effort and began stocking a higher shelf. “Not unless you want to get your ass fired this time.”

Sam just shrugged and returned to his own duties. They did their work in amicable silence until Sam broke in with a question. “Are you bringing Jas over for Vince’s birthday tomorrow?” 

Shane nodded. “Yeah. Or Marnie will. Or she’ll walk. I don’t know, but she’ll be there. I know she’s excited.”

“Cool, cool,” Sam bobbed his head. He opened up three fresh boxes of cans and wheeled the dolly over to the next aisle to continue his mundane task. 

Shane was alone in his aisle. He heard the automatic doors chime as someone entered the store. He couldn’t see who, and he didn’t think anything of it. 

“Hey dude what’s up? Go for a swim?” he heard Sam joke to someone. 

“Very funny, asshole.” It was Darcy.

There was a dull thud and an “ow!” from Sam. Shane pictured her punching him in the shoulder. 

“I picked a shit time to run out of… well, almost everything,” Darcy huffed. 

“I thought you shopped at Pierres?” Sam asked. 

“Yeah, me and what gold, dude?”

Darcy and Sam shared a laugh. 

“Abby is gonna miss out on all of your fun visits and corporal punishments.” 

“I would _never_ hit a _lady_ ,” Darcy insisted humorously. 

“ _Lady?_ Have you _met_ Abs?” Sam scoffed. 

Shane felt that he was being creepy, but what could he do? He was stuck there at the moment. He figured he could finish up and sneak off before he was revealed, knowing that Darcy would have something to say about it if he was. 

Unfortunately, that plan went out the window when he heard the heels of Morris’s impeccably -shined dress shoes clipping towards him. He stopped in front of Sam and Darcy.

“Samson, you’re not goofing off again, I assume?” Morris asked, his voice holding a tone of warning. 

“No, sir,” Sam insisted. 

“I was just asking Sam here the difference in these two dog foods,” Darcy chimed in. 

“Very well then,” Shane pictured Morris wearing the same haughty expression of incredulity that he always seemed to have plastered on his stupid face.   
  


Then he clicked around the corner in front of Shane. “Shane, when you finish with this, the pasta in aisle two needs to be marked down. Quickly please!”

“Yes, sir,” Shane said to Morris’s back through gritted teeth as his boss sauntered off.

Shane knew exactly what he would see when he turned around, so he wasn’t surprised when Darcy was standing there, hands on her hips with a grocery basket in one hand. Her hair was dripping water in a small pool at her feet. She was completely drenched. Her smile was positively devilish. 

“Lurk much, Prince Charming?” She asked, clearly enjoying having caught him in the act. 

“This is where I work, what do you want me to do?” He challenged. 

“I don’t know how ‘bout a ‘hey there, Darcy, ethereal goddess and highlight of my life, I thought I heard you here in my humble place of work and I came to offer my services’.” 

Shane shook his head and rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t hide his smile. “More like ‘Hey Darcy, scourge of my life and pain in my ass, why have you come to plague me at work?’” 

“That’s more like it,” she smirked. 

“Okay, so you guys clearly know each other,” Sam observed.

“Yes we do,” said Darcy. 

“Unfortunately,” Shane said at the same time. “Don’t I get enough of you at the saloon?” 

“You wish, babe,” Darcy winked. “But unfortunately you won’t be seeing me there tonight, so you will just have to pine for me to Emily and talk about how much you miss my wonderful presence,” she grinned. 

“To what do I owe the incredible mercy of not having to deal with your wonderful presence?”

“Actually, Marnie asked me to babysit Jas tonight,” she said. 

Shane stopped. _Marnie asked_ Darcy _to babysit?_

“Why?” he asked. His voice betraying his frustration.

Darcy gave him a weird look but answered, “She’s going out tonight and said that you would probably be out late. She said Jas likes me and she offered me some chickens for my coop in return for the occasional night of babysitting. Is that cool with you?” 

_Marnie not only asked Darcy to babysit, but she asked because she knew I was going to be getting drunk at the Stardrop all night_ , Shane thought. He felt like shit. He knew he should be doing more to make his aunt’s life easier, especially considering she was giving him and Jas a place to live and took care of Jas more often than not. And now, because he was never around, she had to rely on this new girl to pull the weight that Shane couldn’t. 

All he said was “Yeah, that’s cool.” 

Darcy inched back a bit. “Well in that case, I’m gonna go grab the rest of what I need and head out so I can get ready to head over to Marnie’s. See ya. Later Sam.” She waved to each of them and walked off, waterlogged boots squelching as she went. 

“Dude what was _that_?” Sam asked Shane once Darcy was out of sight.

“What was what?”

“I didn’t know you guys knew each other, that’s wild. Darcy is really cool, she lets Seb and Abby and I smoke weed on her property.”

“Wow, that's… Pretty cool of her, I guess?”

“Well, like, we were doing it anyway, but she doesn’t stop us,” Sam explained. “Maybe Darcy could bring Jas over tomorrow?”

Shane froze. “Yeah… Maybe.” 

Sam walked back to his aisle, leaving Shane in front of his own shelf of identical cans. Shane finished stacking the rest of them up before moving on to the markdowns Morris had mentioned. He felt guilt weighing in the pit of his stomach for the rest of his shift. The rain outside did not let up, as though it intended to match his mood perfectly. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow so I guess I am back to writing this after like six straight months of nothing. I'm sorry if this chapter doesn't feel like much, I'm mostly trying to find my groove again. Thanks for being patient with me <3 hopefully I'll get back to some sense of regularity with writing this because I still have a lot to say and I'm NOT ready to give up yet.


	5. Pink Cake

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Darcy knocked on the door to Marnie's ranch. Emma was trying to scoot herself under the corral fence to get a closer look at the cows so Darcy scooped her up.

Marnie answered the door, “Hello, Darcy! And hello, Emma!” She said with a smile, scratching Emma under her chin. 

Darcy noticed a bottle of wine sticking out of Marnie’s massive purse. “Jas is in the kitchen, dinner is warming in the oven. Shane will be back late. Have a good night!” Just like that, she bustled past Darcy and into the night towards town. 

Darcy stepped into the glow of the living room. The house was quiet except for the radio playing softly in the kitchen. 

“Hello, Jas,” Darcy said as she stepped into the room. Emma wiggled out of Darcy’s arms and bounded over to Jas. 

“Emma!” Jas shouted and abandoned the marker she was coloring with. She dropped to her knees on the kitchen floor, giggling wildly as Emma licked every inch of her face. 

“What are you working on up here?” Darcy moved around the kitchen table to get a look at Jas’s ongoing project. It looked like every form of craft supplies in the house had been dumped on the table. There were markers, crayons, glue, glitter, ribbons, stickers— the works. In the middle of the mess was a piece of construction paper that said “Happy B”. 

“I’m making a birthday card for Vincent. His birthday is tomorrow.”

“That’s cool,” Darcy said. “How old will he be?” 

“He’s turning eleven.” Jas offered no other information. Darcy remembered from her last encounter with Jas that her curtness was due more to shyness than the caginess that was common from her godfather. Darcy knew there was a chance things would be awkward without Shane there to be a buffer. 

“How old are you, Jas?” Darcy tried. 

“I’m ten. My birthday is on the fourth of Summer.” 

Darcy took a seat across from Jas’s card. She grabbed a piece of construction paper and started drawing on it with crayons. “Well I think your card looks really great. I personally love the glitter. I’m a big fan of glitter.”

“Me too!” Jas said happily. She took her seat and began finishing off the rest of the word “birthday.” She occasionally would sneak peeks at Darcy’s drawings. There were a bunch of heart shapes and some trees.

Jas snickered at Darcy’s attempt to draw a cow. “Art is not my strong suit,” Darcy admitted with a small smile. 

“That’s what Uncle Shane always says too.” 

“Is your Uncle Shane going to bring you to the party tomorrow?” 

“I think so, if he’s not working. He works a lot during the day. And he goes out drinking at night. I don’t think I’m supposed to know that, but sometimes I hear him and Aunt Marnie yelling about it late at night when I’m supposed to be asleep…” 

Darcy stopped coloring her cow. _So she knows about his drinking. I guess it would be kind of hard to hide._

“That’s all… Complicated adult stuff. Don’t worry too much about it, okay?” 

“I try not too,” Jas said quietly, her eyes pulled down to her paper. 

The two girls colored on in silence for a few minutes before Darcy felt brave enough to ask another question. “What did Vincent ask for for his birthday?”

Jas perked up again, the way only a child with a lot to share can. “Well, he really wants a Norf gun but Mrs. Jodi would have to go to Zuzu City for it because you can’t get fun toys like that in the Valley, and he said he hasn’t seen his mom leave for the city in a while so he’s not sure if he’s going to get one.”

“Maybe Jodi sent someone else out to get it?” Darcy suggested. 

“I thought so too! I thought maybe Sam could’ve gone to get it when he said he was going to work, but Vincent said Sam wouldn’t lie about where he was, even if it was to do something for his birthday.”

Darcy had to physically stop herself from laughing at the concept of the extremely trustworthy Sam who would never ever lie about his whereabouts. 

“Vincent also asked for pink cake for his birthday, but he knows he never gets it because pink melons are out of season.” 

“Why not just use pink melon extract?” 

Jas looked up from her finished card, puzzled. “Extract?” 

“Yeah. It’s like… Really strong bottled flavoring and you add it to stuff you bake. There’s vanilla extract, and almond extract for wedding cakes, and there’s pink melon extract. In fact,” Darcy rose to her feet and started rummaging through cabinets until she found where Marnie kept her baking ingredients. “Promise me you won’t try this until you’re older?”

Jas nodded, and watched curiously as Darcy boosted herself up on her knees on the kitchen counter. She pushed ancient bottles of molasses and canisters of baking powder aside on the top shelf until she found what she was looking for. “Do as I say not as I do,” she scooted off the counter and closed the cabinet. 

With a flourish, she presented a tiny brown glass bottle with a red cap and a water-damaged label that said “PURE Pink Melon Extract” to Jas. “Tadaa, pink melon extract!” 

“So… We can make pink cake?” Jas asked, with a hint of excitement in her voice. 

Darcy was busy typing something out on her phone. She turned the screen to show Jas a recipe for pink cupcakes. “How would you like to make Vincent pink cupcakes for his birthday?”

Jas picked at the crinkled label of the bottle. “Does this stuff ever go bad?” She wrinkled her nose as the old label chipped off under her nail. 

“Okay, not the excitement I was hoping for. Lemme look it up really quick,” Darcy typed on her phone. “According to Zoogle, pure pink melon extract has an infinite shelf life.”

Jas stared at her. 

“That means it never goes bad.”

“Oh! Yay! Let’s make pink cupcakes!” Jas cheered. 

“That’s what I’m talking about! Why don’t you start clearing the table and I’ll get dinner out of the oven and then we can bake!”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

The table had been cleared of glitter and construction paper, and extra servings of lasagna were placed in the fridge. Darcy had cranked up the radio and was singing along badly with her wooden spoon microphone while Jas did a little dance at the table and mixed up cupcake batter. Darcy twirled over and gave her a bump with her hip, “How we lookin’, kiddo?” 

“I think it's smooth enough,” Jas said. She held it up and licked the whisk, “Tastes just like pink cake!” 

Darcy felt a surge of joy at seeing Jas loosened up. She took a dollop of cake batter and tapped it on Jas’s nose. Jas retaliated by plonking two fingers full of batter on Darcy’s cheeks. 

“Wait! Something’s wrong!” Jas shouted, eyes wide. 

Darcy froze. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s not pink!” 

Darcy burst into laughter. With all the fun they were having, neither one of them had noticed that the cake batter lacked its namesake color. “Well, that’s an easy fix,” Darcy climbed back up to the baking cabinet and grabbed red food coloring. She dripped a little bit into the batter while Jas stirred, until the batter had the traditional pink cake blush. 

“I think it needs more pink!” Jas giggled. She dripped more food coloring in the batter and watched with glee as the color changed further. 

“Now it's _hot_ pink cake,” Darcy laughed. 

“Vincent is going to love it!” 

There was a lull in excitement as Darcy mixed up the base for the icing. The girls had wiped their faces off, and cleaned up some of their mess because “Marnie is going to have a fit if she sees this.”

The kitchen timer atop the stove was shaped like a chicken and Darcy set it for fifteen minutes. 

She slumped into a kitchen chair across from Jas. Baking did always exhaust her, and it wasn’t usually so high energy. 

All of a sudden Jas spoke up. “I’m nervous for tomorrow,” she said cautiously. 

“Nervous about what? About the party?” 

“Yeah... “ Jas looked down at her hands, looking like she didn’t know what to do with them. 

“What about the party makes you nervous?” 

“I don’t know… I just always get nervous before I do anything. I get nervous before school even though I do that every day.”

Darcy stayed silent, a feeling of dread falling over her as she started to see familiar patterns. 

“I told Vincent and he doesn’t get it. He called me a scaredy cat. I tried to tell Aunt Marnie but she said I was just shy.”

Darcy leaned in close, “Did you talk to Shane about it?” 

“No… I’m too scared. I think he’ll worry about me, and he seems like he has a lot to worry about anyway.” 

Darcy leaned back again. She blew her hair out of her face, but the bits of icing in it plastered it to her forehead. “How long have you had this nervousness? Did something cause it?” 

“Well… I asked Uncle Shane to tell me about my parents. I knew they died when I was a baby, but I didn’t know anything about them. He told me about how they were his friends in college and how he played gridball with my daddy. Not long after that, I started to get nervous when I would leave the house, or think about the future. I’m scared that something is going to happen to take away Uncle Shane or Aunt Marnie or Vincent or Miss Penny or anyone! Something could happen that takes everything away like my parents were taken away.” There were tears in Jas’s eyes, and Darcy felt her own eyes welling up. It was so awful to see so much anxiety in such a small child, but more than anything she saw herself in Jas. 

“Can I tell you something kinda heavy?” Darcy asked Jas earnestly. She nodded, so Darcy continued. “When I was your age my mother and my sister died.”

Jas’s hands moved to cover her mouth, but Darcy reached out for them and took each of Jas’s hands in her own. She squeezed them tight as she spoke. “After they died I was terrified to leave the house. I was always scared something was going to happen to me or someone else I loved. Even as I got older and I was able to leave the house again, I was still scared. I got nervous, as you called it, to do things. Even things I liked. One thing I found that helped me control the fear I felt all the time was to deliberately put myself in situations where I felt scared. I watched nothing but horror movies and read horror novels. I put myself in situations where I was safe to feel scared, so that when I felt scared for no reason, like before a party,” Darcy squeezed Jas’s hand again, “I could control my fear because it's not like the _really_ scary stuff I had read or seen.”

Jas considered this silently for a moment. “I think I wanna try that,” she said quietly. 

“I’d be happy to watch a movie with you, but I think we should probably finish icing these cupcakes first.” 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Darcy helped Jas choose a movie from a DVD collection of twenty-five movies in one set that Joja Mart often sold in a discount bin. Shane must have picked it up from work one day, Darcy thought. They agreed on _Night of the Vampire_ because it was older than most of the other movies, and Darcy thought that the goofy looking practical effects like rubber bats on strings would make it easier for Jas to watch. 

All of the lights were off and Jas and Darcy were snuggled up on the couch with Emma sprawled over Jas’s lap. Jas was squeezing a pillow to her chest. Every jumpscare that happened made her scream and jump in her seat a bit before making her giggle. Neither of the girls heard Shane enter the room. 

“What’s going on here?” he asked.

Both girls shrieked, before dissolving into laughter once they realized who it was. 

“We’re watching Vampire Night!” Jas told him excitedly.

“Night of the Vampire,” Darcy corrected. She expected Shane to be pleased. It was his DVD after all; she figured he would be thrilled that Jas was taking an interest in what he liked. 

“A _horror movie_?” Shane asked incredulously. 

“Yeah, but it’s not scary!” Jas assured him. 

Shane groaned in frustration and shook his head. He said nothing as he stomped past the two girls and into his room. A moment later he appeared again, a six pack of beers dangling from one hand. He walked back out the front door and slammed it behind him. 

Darcy shot Jas a look and Jas said, “don’t worry about him. He gets like that sometimes when he drinks.” 

Darcy shook her head. So much adult knowledge in such a small body. The girls finished the last of the movie in silence. 

Darcy flipped the lights back on. “Alright, time for bed, kiddo. Go get your pajamas on and brush your teeth.”

“Okie doke,” and Jas skipped off, seeming no worse for wear after her first foray into horror. 

Darcy sat on the edge of the bed as Jas scooted around under the covers, trying to get comfortable. Once she settled in and found a good spot, she looked up at Darcy. “Thank you for watching that movie with me, Darcy. I think I’ll feel better tomorrow. I’ll just think about rubber bats and vampires with bad makeup,” she smiled a sleepy grin. 

"Soon we can work our way up to something actually scary." Darcy brushed a piece of hair out of Jas’s face, “and just remember, if you have nightmares, you know that nothing you’re dreaming is real. You’re much braver and cooler and stronger than any silly nightmares your brain can make up to scare you.” She squeezed Jas’s hand and turned off the bed lamp. 

“Goodnight Jas.”

“Goodnight, Darcy.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆ ﾟ｡･ ───

Shane sipped his beer in silence. He let his legs hang over the edge of the pier as he watched the moonlight dance over the ripples of the pond. He thought fondly about how, when Jas was little and he had first moved to the valley with her, she was convinced there was a mermaid living in the pond. 

The sound of Darcy’s heavy work boots clomping his way through the grass broke into his thoughts. The weathered wood of the pier creaked under her feet and groaned when she sat down next to him. 

“Go away,” he said firmly. 

“No chance, tell me what’s bothering you,” Darcy retorted. 

Shane sighed and drained the first of his beers. He crushed the can in his fist and set it aside. “I’m so fucking angry at you.” _And at myself._

Darcy scoffed. “Why are you pissed at _me_?”

“You showed Jas a horror movie, without even considering that you’re not the one who’s going to have to deal with the sleepless nights and nightmares.” 

“Okay, well, two things. First of all,” Darcy started in on him, “ _Night of the Vampire_ couldn’t give nightmares to a toddler.”

“Jas is scared of everything. A strong breeze could scare that kid,” he retorted.

“And _two_ ,” she continued, “We really need to talk about Jas.” 

This got Shane’s attention. He looked at Darcy, fear in his eyes. There was a horrible feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. “What about Jas?” His voice was rigid. 

“I think she has anxiety. She was telling me about how she’s always nervous to leave the house, and she’s scared something is going to happen that would take you or Marnie, or whoever else away from her like her parents were taken away from her.”

“Why didn’t she tell me this?” Shane asked, even though he thought he knew the answer. 

Darcy hesitated. “She said she didn’t want to worry you. You have enough on your plate as it is.” 

_There it is. I’m the worst godfather for her._

Shane hung his head in his hands. The two of them sat in silence until he groaned, “I’m such a fuck up.” 

“Stop it,” Darcy laid a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. “It’s not your fault, okay? She’s a little kid that’s experienced trauma, there was no way she wouldn’t develop some kind of anxiety. The same thing happened to me when I lost my mom and my sister, and I told Jas that. She knows she’s not alone.” 

Shane bristled. _She’s supposed to be able to rely on_ me. “I’m supposed to be around to keep her safe and instead I’m just a drunk piece of shit. She thinks she can’t even go to me for help.” He let out a shuddering sigh. 

Darcy scooted next to him and took his hand. He didn’t pull away this time. 

“I showed her the movie in the first place because when I was her age I was so scared of death that I couldn’t even leave the house. The thing that helped me the most was finding a safe way to feel scared and I did that by watching horror movies. I wanted to give her that sense of safety,” Darcy said. Tears were welling in her eyes. “I see so much of myself in her.” 

“That’s terrifying, Darcy. You’re super fucked up.” 

Darcy scoffed and punched Shane hard in the arm, making him wince and her chuckle. 

“Thanks, bastard.” Darcy cracked open a beer and passed it to him before opening one for herself. “If it’s any consolation, I think Jas is a much better kid than I ever was.” 

“She’s the best,” Shane stared out over the lake. “Do you ever feel like no matter what you do, you’re destined to fail?” Shane asked after a moment of silence. 

Darcy inhaled deeply before letting it out as a gigantic sigh. “I left everything I knew to start a ranch as a big ‘fuck you’ to my family, even though I barely know what it takes to run a ranch by myself. My every financial move is extremely precarious. So, yes. Yes I do.” 

“I just feel like I’m stuck at the bottom of this pit and I can’t see the light of day anymore. And I’m not strong enough to pull myself out.” Shane sipped from his beer. 

“Shit, I’ll drink to that.” Darcy chuckled. 

“I’m serious.” 

“So am I. Look, I know what you mean.“

“I’m in this pit and I can see all the stuff I used to give a shit about, and part of me still does care so deeply. But it’s like I can’t access that part of me anymore. I’m just watching my life happen and the people I care about be disappointed in me.”

“Exactly,” Darcy muttered. She looked over at him and their eyes met. There was a moment’s hesitation before he put down his beer and kissed her. 

She leaned into the embrace, placing her hands on his thighs for balance while he cupped her face with one of his broad hands. It was the kind of closeness that only shared pain brings and he relished in it. It was enough just to be touched. 

Darcy pushed Shane backwards onto his back and climbed on top of him, kissing him harder. She rolled her tongue into his mouth and he gripped her thighs as though he could pull her into him. 

They made out heavily for what felt like forever before Darcy rolled off of him and onto her back on the pier. “Sorry, I need air.”

Shane chuckled and sat up. “I feel like a teenager,” he admitted. 

“Are you still mad at me?” Darcy asked, scooting up to him sweetly. 

He shoved her away playfully, “Yes. But I’m more angry with myself, so you’re off the hook for now.”

“I’m really surprised at you. I thought you’d be ecstatic that Jas was taking an interest in horror movies. Weren’t we just talking about how you were looking for stuff you wanted to bond over?” 

Shane sighed, and debated on how personal he wanted to get with Darcy on the matter. He cracked open another beer for good measure. 

“Honestly?” he started. Darcy was looking at him expectantly. “I’m thrilled she’s interested in horror now. I’m just kinda pissed because I wanted to be the first one to show her a horror movie.”

He waited for the wise-crack from Darcy but it never came. Instead she was looking pensive. “I’m sorry I took that from you.” 

“You’re being weird, Darcy.” 

“No, I’m being sincere.” 

“Yeah,” Shane nodded, “and it’s weird.” 

She elbowed him in the arm. “I’m trying to apologize, you jerk, are you going to take it or not?”

“Yeah, I suppose,” he smiled. 

“I just got so caught up in the euphoria of feeling like I had a little sister again. I forgot that you’re still in the process of experiencing the euphoria of raising a goddaughter,” Darcy smiled back weakly. 

Shane didn’t know what to say. “Don’t worry about it,” was what he settled on. 

“I should probably go,” Darcy got to her feet. “Emma is asleep with Jas, is it okay if I leave her for the night?” 

“I’m sure Jas will be ecstatic,” Shane replied. He watched as Darcy started to lead herself down the dock by the light on her phone.

“Goodnight, Prince Charming,” she called behind her. 

“Goodnight,” Shane said, but he knew she couldn’t hear him. She had already disappeared into the darkness. He gathered up their empty beer cans, switched off the lantern he always left at the end of the dock for nights like these, and led himself home in the dark by memory. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love having time blindness bc what I thought was like 4 weeks was really 4 months. Thank you so much for reading my fic. I never ever thought it would gain any traction, but I'm so appreciative of those of yall who leave comments and tell me you like it and you want me to keep going! It means the world to me to know that I'm making something that people enjoy (even if it takes me forever lol)!


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